Then will I make weak things become strong

Ok, wow! This week went by so fast! I can't believe it's over already. And that's the end of this last transfer. And I survived! This will be my third transfer here in the Otter Creek area, which is good because I just love the people here! We have made so much progress this week with our investigators. We did drop many, but Sister Brumett figured out a good analogy about raspberries that made it a good thing to drop people. We simply cannot focus on those who aren't ready yet, and just like with unripe raspberries, if you pull too hard you break them off and they can no longer grow. It is such a relief to not be spread so thin with all the people we are trying to teach. But we worked hard this week, and we made a lot of progress in ourselves, and our investigators made a lot of progress. It was great! And we have a man who is so prepared for his baptism this week. We are so happy we got to stay for that! It's funny because the weeks like we feel like we did the worst we actually did the best. This is such a thing that Heavenly Father does, the closer you get to Him the weaker and more sinful you feel,  up then it is a beautiful thing to feel that, Ether 12:27 talks about how the Lord gives men weakness so we can be humble, and then with Him weak things can be made strong. We just have to let him. Seriously this week is a perfect example of that. I am so imperfect, and I have a lot to work on, but I am happier than ever! There was one lesson we had this week with a wonderful woman who I love so much, but we could see no progress in her, so we planned a final lesson, one to find out what her iceberg is and planned to drop her if she didn't make the commitment to come to church. It was a beautiful lesson, completely lead by the Spirit. We both shared personal weaknesses that are similar to hers that we have that make our lives challenging, but we push through because we know that God wants it of us. Some of the things we shared were a shock to her and her member friend who was there (apparently 'shy quiet me' is not someone they know, I guess Ether 12:37 could apply here a little). And in one case we increased the member's testimony of coming to church, and she has committed to be better at that, but in the end, she did not make the commitment we needed to be able to continue teaching her. We said we'd continue stopping by now and then, but we could promise regular visits anymore.

As hard as that was, it is also a testimony building moment of what is described in 2 Nephi 3:21, "Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers." I kinda really like how that connects to my personal fear of talking to people, and then how I've gotten over a lot of it. It's not completely gone yet, but my words are made strong in my faith in Jesus Christ. And that weakness was made strong when we talked to that member at church and she told us that she almost said yes, and we had gotten closer to getting that answer from her than anyone else. And then she had gone out and bought herself a dress, maybe not completely dropped yet. But is is so true how the Lord puts you with the person you need to be and in the people's lives He wants you in to be able to help them in their personal journey back to Him. And apparently we are not done yet because we are both still here! And I get to finish training Sister Brumett, who I just love so much! We have so much fun together, and we are always on the same page when we are thinking of things. We literally have the exact same thoughts all the time.

Some wonderful things that happened this week was when we had an amazing zone meeting, so much revelation there. We went to Hot Springs with a deaf member to try to contact some deaf people there. It was about an hour and a half drive there and back. And it was pouring rain like I haven't seen in a year. It was hard to see the road all the time, but we made it there and back safely, (Thank you Heavenly Father!) we also had several good lessons with a lot of wonderful people. It was so good this week! And we had many people come to church, many miracles as we just followed the Spirit. I love how amazing these people are. They all love Christ and they all want to come closer to Him, and they don't mind talking about Him!

Also, a really cool scripture I found his week is in D&C 38:3 "[Jesus Christ is] the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by [Him]." I especially loved it because it reminded me of a song that I've recently acquired where it says "To the One who spoke and set the sun ablaze, to the One who stopped the storm and walked the waves, to the One who died so He could say, You Matter! Don't you know you Matter? You Matter! I hope you know you Matter!" It's a song called Matter, and I really enjoy it.

Ooo, and another cool thing I though about this week comes from 1 Nephi 5:8, "And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak." Ok, first of all, this is an ending of a story about this family who leaves Jerusalem and walks for three days into the wilderness. And then they get told that they have to go all they way back for a very important book. Now one could wonder why didn't they just bring it with them the first time? That would have been a lot easier. And surely the Lord could have told them about it before, He knew they would need it. And maybe He did, and maybe He didn't. All we know is that it happened, and so there must be a lesson to learn here. And there are a lot, but one I thought of this week was really cool. I thought of this as I was reminded of an experience that happened to a family in a tv show that I'd seen (it's BBC's North and South) where the father uprooted the whole family and they went clear to the other side of the country. And his family followed him, because he is the Father and Husband. But they do not know why. Eventually they confront him, needing answers for this struggle they are in, coming to a completely new area with no friends. And he explains it to them. Similarly, Lehi drags his whole family away from all they know, and they follow because he is the Father and Husband, but maybe Sariah did not like being there, maybe she would much rather be at home and not traveling through the wilderness, and now possibly having her children killed for more of these crazy ideas of her husband. And her position as the Mother of these sons would greatly influence them in their lives, and her personal testimony would be important for them to become the righteous sons they needed to be, and until this experience happened, her faith was lacking. And the Lord knew that, and he provided a way for her to gain that testimony so she could be that example the sons would follow (all but the eldest two).

Also, as we were driving back from Hot Springs, we had already dropped off the deaf member and I was just thinking about how when people pray to Jesus instead of Heavenly Father, they don't get the answers they need because they are not praying to the right person. I told Sister Brumett about it and then we moved on. But then the next day during our 12 week study we read John 16:23-24, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." And it was exactly what the Spirit taught me the day before! It was so amazing! I love studies!!

It has been a fun week with lots of improvement, and lots of stretching. I love it!

Love y'all!
Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

We went to the Big Dam Bridge last week with the STLs.
It's the longest pedestrian bridge I think in America, it was so fun!

My last full month with a Fijian Mission President, look what Sister Hirschi sent me!

What a week

That's my companion! (Sister Brumett)

So, y'all remember how I'm training a brand new sister? Ya right! She's  training me! She's amazing. It's super fun because we are both so excited about the gospel that we really do just spend hours talking about it and how it blesses lives. It literally solves every problem. Seriously, like what Elder L. Whitney Clayton was saying yesterday, it's the little everyday things like reading the Book of Mormon and praying that truly makes all the difference. I can totally see that in the lives of those around me. There was so much gold shared in this last general conference. Saturday was all about the plan of salvation and families! It was so beautiful.

This week was just incredible. One other amazing wonderful thing that happened was that I was able to go to Bartlett and watch a family get sealed! It was the family of a man that Sister Hirschi and I baptized last year. They are incredible, and they were so excited for it. And their little girl is so adorable. She has grown so much in the last year. And she's talking in full sentences now too. She loved it all. And it was so great to be able to see Sister Hirschi again and even meet her parents. That was fun. 

Remember this? (2016)

One year later! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ (2017)

And Sister Hirschi went home this week, but I got to see her again there and meet her parents too! It was so fun!!!

It was just a wonderful amazing week, that I will always remember. 

The gospel is true. It's real. Again, I love what Elder Valeri V. Cordón said in general conference, "No achievement in this life, as important as it may be, is as important as learning the language of the gospel" applying the gospel in your life is the single most important thing you can do. It's pointless and dismal to live without it. 

I love it!!

Love y'all! 

Kimber

P.S. Did ya catch that President Wakolo got called as a General Seventy? And he totally walked up with his sticks!! (i.e. scriptures, Ezekiel 37:16-19). (Link here to news report.)

That's my mission president!

Heavenly Father's artwork

Mom here - I received a text on Friday night:

I just saw your amazing, beautiful, missionary girls at the temple. I gave them all giant hugs from you!

(I recognized Sis Beckstrand, Sister Lloyd, Sis Hirschi (wait - she went home this week?!)
and on the far end Sis Brumett, her current comp)

My response was:

Love it, thanks!

Followed by the explanation:

This is Melissa (Sis Hirschi's mom). She got home Tuesday night and we flew back here Wed because she and your daughter's convert J__ P__ and his wife got sealed tonight. Even though it wasn't in your daughter's area Pres Wakolo let her come to the temple and see it. The girls were so cute and happy to be back together!

And my relieved response:

 I was really confused when I was sure Sis Herschi had gone home already! Wow, but it sounds like a neat opportunity.  I'm glad you got to go back with her! (And I was trying to figure out how they were able to be in the temple now...) Thanks for clearing that all up. 😉

She and I continued on for a few texts...but wow, what an opportunity!

Serving the Lord

This week was busy, and exhausting. We were just so tired all week. And this week went by incredibly fast. We were so surprised to realize it was Friday when we planed Thursday night. Also, this is transfer week, and we are both safe and staying here in Millington. But, I have to say that Sister Hirschi and Sister Havran are companions again, STLs in Sercy!! I'm so excited for them. That will be a great transfer.

This week we did a lot of service. We helped a lady move, and it was funny because we were dressed in our proselyting clothes and we were moving heavy furniture. We ended up calling the elders because it was too heavy for us.

Then we helped a member set up her 10 foot Christmas tree. It was so tall. And tonight we are going over and decorating it. I'm really excited. We also helped another member clean/organize her pantry. That was really fun. And we got a toaster oven! 

A sister in our Ward and her husband got their mission call this week and they are so excited for that. We were able to be there when they opened it. She is such an amazing person. She and her husband are going to be an office couple in the Des Moines Iowa mission, and she is so excited. She is always asking us questions about it and what it's like and the rules and anything that she wants to know. It's so fun to see how excited she is. It was a great week. And all of it was a blur. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission. I was thinking at church how much I love it here. Even when we are giving talks in church (which we did on Sunday) I am so beyond grateful that I made the decision to go, and I am grateful for all who have made it possible for me to be here now. (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!) I would not trade this experience for the world. Uncle Karl send me a list of things he's done and learned in his life and a list of things he did and learned on his mission, and he said that his mission was by far the more important of them all, and I totally see it. It's so true. The people skills, the gospel knowledge, the many things I'm learning about life in general, and the love that I feel from my Heavenly Father, and for those I come in contact with and teach. It is an incredible life on a mission. And 100% worth it.

Love Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

One of my favorite people, Sister Havran!! Love that Sister! 

The earth is a beautiful place to be

'Tis the season y'all!!!

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!!

Someday I'll get this missionary thing right...

Counterclockwise: Sis B, Sis. Esplin, Sis. Decker, Sis. Hirschi

Together again

A Harry Potter Bedroom!

It's been a week. It was really good. Probably the first best thing that happened this week was when we had exchanges. Sister Esplin stayed here and I went to Conway again. And Sister Decker (who was in the MTC with me) was here with Sister Esplin while I was with Sister Hirschi!! It was really fun. I loved being with Sister Hirschi again, it was so fun, and so much like when we were together before, but better. Pretty sure. It was just really fun. And I have some great goals to work on now.

Also this week, we moved!! Finally, we have a real apartment for us. And it's huge!! (I'll send pictures later, like maybe next week.) It's a two story condominium. We knew it was coming at the end of the week, but the office elders called about half an hour before we finished weekly planning and told us to pack up and to be at the new apartment in half an hour. So it actually took us an hour, we had to finish a load of laundry and get the apartment neat, we only had time to fit half our stuff in the car and we had to leave. We stopped at the church to put our food in the fridge, and then we went and got the keys for the new apartment. It's truly beautiful. And way huge. With a dining room, a kitchen, a pantry, a Harry Potter bedroom under the stairs, a family/living room, 3 bathrooms- one downstairs and two upstairs- and two bedrooms upstairs. It's way too big for the two of us, but I'm sure we'll fill it. There is just a lot of bare wall space we get to find a way to fill now. And we are still living in bags, trying to prevent anything that may or may not happen.

We also met a really awesome family this week, and they all asked for copies of the Book of Mormon during our lesson! It was really exciting. There are the cutest little girls there too.

Crazy thing, it was stake conference his week, and we talked to Donna (our recent convert) Saturday and made sure that she knew about it and that she was planning on going. She said that yes she was, and she also told us what she was going to wear. We weren't worried about her. The next morning we texted a lot of people to go to church and pretty much nobody replied. Then we went to church and got Donna a seat saved with some members in the ward, then we went and sat with another recent convert and Jasmine Wakolo because President and Sister Wakolo were speaking in the meeting. So we kept watching and waiting for people to show up, and nobody was coming or replying to our texts. Donna wasn't there yet, but she is usually later because she is slower with her walker. Finally we decide to call her and she didn't answer, but still no worries, it takes her a while to find her phone when it rings. Then the meeting starts. We are sitting there and the first speaker is about to get up and speak when we notice that Donna had called us. We felt like we had to go listen to her voicemail and if she was there tell her about her seat we saved. So we go out and call her and she says that she had fallen the night before and hadn't been able to get up all night!! She was still on the floor!! We rushed back to our keys and told Jasmine and Cyrstal (the recent convert) we'd be back soon and ran out to the car. We went and helped Donna up, put her to bed to sleep, and then rushed back to church. We missed only the first talk and the begining of the second, and we were there for the rest of the meeting. It was a good meeting, full of good talks. All is well, and Donna is fine, we had a great day yesterday overall. And, last night we got to go with one of our investigators to the young adult fireside. It was really good. And I feel like it was good for her too. That was the most exciting things that happened this week. It was a good week. Super busy, I'm still really tired, and it was great.

Love Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

Isn't she cute!?

Moving, President Wakolo our Companion, and a baptism!!!!!

Guess what we got yesterday (Saturday afternoon)?!

Hey, I'm emailing today, right now, cuz Sister Evans goes home on Monday...

This week has been crazy!! Monday was nuts! We finished emailing, and were driving up with our groceries when the office elders called, and told us we were moving. The next day. So we rushed home and started putting everything in ziplock bags and garbage bags. And we had to vacuum and lay out all our drawers and get the whole apartment ready for spraying. Our plans went down the drain and we cleaned and packed all evening. The elders came and sprayed the apartment. We slept without sheets because we didn't want to get them dirty (get bed bugs on them and have to wash and dry again, like we've been doing everyday since we've had them).

Giant garbage bags!

Then on Tuesday we had to cancel most of our plans. We did get to see Donna and Chelsea. So two lessons all day. Yay! They were really good at least. Then we had to go to the laundromat to dry ALL of our clothes and kill any bugs still on or in our stuff (that took two days). Then we actually moved to our new temporary apartment while they look for a new one for us to move into. It's a nice apartment. It's the apartment meant for transfers/trainers. So next week there are going to be six sisters there, (if we're still there). 

Wednesday was cool. Seriously. We had a great lesson with Donna. She has changed so much! You wouldn't believe how different she is now. She laughs and she smiles. She loves it when we come over. Then we went to the church and had a great lesson with a less active couple with President Wakolo. That was a wonderful lesson. It's so inspiring to be with President and to watch him teach. The Spirit there reminded me of the temple. It was amazing. Then Donna came to the church to have her interview. We were seriously with President pretty much all day because after that we had to go back to the laundromat and then the apartment to catch up on 12 week. (?)

Thursday was another adventure. Just before studies we read an email about MLC (missionary leadership training) and found out that we had to be at the church to get two sisters who weren't part of it for the end of the morning until mid afternoon. So we went there and studied with them. Then we found out that we had to do some more cleaning in
our apartment and get ALL of our stuff out so they could spray again before they shut down the apartment. So we had to go on splits with Sister Lange and Sister Kirby (the two sisters we had to be with). Sister Esplin and I cleaned while Sister Evans took the other sisters to our lesson. After that we went to a lesson that fell through, so we went back to the church to figure stuff out for today. We got to see all the leaders on the mission. I saw Sister Hirschi!! And Sister Decker! And Sister Pochop (who goes home with Sister Evans)! It was so great. We also saw President again. Super fun. 

On Friday we ran around trying to meet people, but not much happened. Then we had a lesson with Donna and her home teacher and visiting teacher. It was so good they are perfect for her. They have so much in common. Then we went and had dinner with a less active. We went home and did preventative measures against bed bugs at the temporary apartment.

Today Donna got baptized!!!!! It was so good. There were a lot of people there. What a great way for Sister Evans to end her mission. Donna is the best. There were so many people there to support her. There would have been a lot more, but a lot of people went down to Louisiana to help with the flooding this weekend. It was a really good baptism. I love Donna.

It has been such a good week. So much has happened, and we have all learned so much. It's going to be so hard when Sister Evans goes home. We have had so much fun. I just love it here! And I love learning so much from the scriptures and being able to read them so much. Every verse truly does apply to us. It's so cool. The other day I was reading Alma 19:36, and I was just thinking that right there it tells us how to get that blessing to "pour out his spirit upon them,...his arm is extended to all..." That whole chapter just describes ways of receiving those blessings. It says "and thus..." It just tells us what to do! I love it. So many learning opportunities.

Love Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

This is the best one. Donna!

Our district

Little Rock Arkansas Capitol

Our Threesome Companionship

Beautiful Arkansas 

A cute southern home

The Zombie Apocalypse & Baptist Missionaries

Gorgeous missionary, gorgeous country

This week has been full of highs and lows. But the best part is at this Saturday we are most likely going to have a baptism. Just in time for Sister Evans to go home next week.

Last week we had a sisters p-day and we played a lot of fun games with all the sisters in our zone. Lots of fun things. Also, if there was a zombie apocalypse and I could choose one person from the mission to be on my team, it would be Sister Hirschi. And Sister Esplin would choose me. I feel like that would be a fun experience.

The next day we had a more good lessons. There was an emergency lesson, that messed up our day for the better, with the lady we had the lesson over the phone with. She never keeps appointments, but we had to see her, so we dropped everything and went and saw her. It was a good lesson. Lots of lessons that day were good. Nothing too exciting.

Then it was Wednesday. That was a good day. Zone conference. All day. Seriously. From nine to six. It was so good. So many good inspirational lessons. Also, we had a testimony meeting where president had every single missionary bear their testimony. It was going to be for an hour. But, there were three zones here. All of the missionaries in Arkansas were there. It definitely took two and a half hours. It was so good. President asked us all to bear our testimony of the Savior. The Spirit was so strong. So many powerful testimonies. Also, thinking about it, in the two days (Wednesday and Thursday) every single missionary shared their testimony of the Savior for each other to hear. All together (Thursday was the day that the other two zones on the other side of the river had their zone conference) and it was so good.

On Thursday we had a had a bed bug scare again, so we were super stressed and tired and just feeling kind of depressed. Then we had one of our investigators drop us. With members there. It was a little awkward, but we had to deal. Then we went and had a great dinner with some amazing members who are such cool people. Then we went to the church and did a service with the Relief Society of packing backpacks for the homeless. It was really fun, and we had a great time talking to the members. Then we played a little volleyball before we went home. So overall, the day ended on a fun note.

Friday was so good. We had an amazing lesson with an investigator who is planning on getting baptized on Saturday, and she said that "if everyone lived by the principles taught in the Book of Mormon then the world would be a much better place!!!" It was so cool. I love her. (Mom's response to that was, "Be sure she knows that sometimes the members forget that too...")

And Saturday was a really interesting experience. We had a couple guys knock on our door during lunch. Turns out they are baptist guys who are sharing the word. It was an interesting experience to be on the receiving end of knocking doors. But another interesting thing was to see how they were doing it wrong and not being very nice about it. For real, only in the south! But they were doing good, sharing what the believe. It was a little funny though, when we opened the door the guy saw our wall that had a poster on it that said Mormon.org, and he was like, "so I guess you're Mormon?" It was just an awkward experience. But then we had a great day filled with missionary work that was really fun.

Finally Sunday was awesome. Mostly. Pretty much awesome. Church was so good. So many people there. Donne, the one getting baptized on Saturday (not to be confused with Dana, a different investigator) was there. Also a few less actives we have been working with. One of the best was Chelsea. She has been coming for three weeks now. She is pretty much completely reactivated, and pretty. It's just because of knocking on her door at 8:50 pm and not wanting to go in early. I have a testimony of staying out until 9:00! It is so important. Those ten minutes are miracle minutes!!! Obedience is key.

Seriously, it's been a great week. I've been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon, and it is incredible. And this week I started really reading the Old Testament, and I'm definitely obsessed. My companions are a little annoyed of me saying that I just love the Old Testament. It's just so good!!! All of the scriptures are. Also, I read a really cool quote this morning:

“The story of Joseph, the son of Jacob who was called Israel, is a vivid representation of the great truth that ‘all things work together for good to [those] who loved God.’ (See Rom. 8:28.) Joseph always seemed to do the right thing; but still, more importantly, he did it for the right reason. And how very, very significant that is! Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave and was purchased by Potiphar, a captain of the guard of Pharaoh. But even as an indentured servant, Joseph turned every experience and all circumstances, no matter how trying, into something good.

“This ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will not give up. They have the correct, positive attitude, and Dale Carnegie’s expression seems to apply: If you feel you have a lemon, you can either complain about how sour it is, or you can make a lemonade. It is all up to you.” (Hartman Rector, Jr., “Live above the Law to Be Free,” Ensign, Jan. 1973, p. 130.)

Sorry it's kinda long, it's from the institute manual. There are so many treasures there. I love it!! Mmm, so good.

Also, this morning I woke up to a bunch of bed bug bites all over my legs. They're back. And they're evil. So were stressed about that again. So I super feel that the quote super applies.
Anyway, thanks for all you letters of love and support. I love you guys, and keep up the good work!

Love, Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

Sis Esplin & Sis Beckstrand