The most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel

This was an interesting walk week. We had so many people coming out with us. We had a lot of really good lessons. And the wife of the man who got baptized this week is super excited for her baptism on the third. Since Sister Brumett sang at his baptism they said that they were talking and they wanted me to sing with Sister Brumett at hers. So now we have to prepare a song for that. Lots of fun. Also this week we were walking down a road and Sister Brumett saw these two guys (Sis Brummett discribed them as big, a little scary looking, and a little drunk) and said that we should talk about family history with them. So we went up and started talking to them about coming to do family history and finding out who their family is. We pretty much never feel prompted to start with family history, but it totally got them excited to do it, and the are planning to come to the family history center this week. It's so exciting!

Not much happened this week. We were really busy, but there are no big exciting stories.

But, this week I was reading scriptures about family history, and I fount this really cool scripture: D&C 128:17-18 (16-18), "... This most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead... It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other--and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. ...for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time." (emphasis added) This is so beautiful because out of this whole glorious and beautiful plan that the Father showed us, this (the underlined portions) is His favorite part, because it is the most merciful part! And this makes the loss of plain and precious truths from the gospel (1 Nephi 13:24-29) even more sad because Satan took Heavenly Father's favorite part and threw it away. It is so sad, but how happy He must have been for that to be restored to the earth! I love that, "the most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead" and to think that children as young as 12 get to help out with His favorite part. I can just see it: the pre-earth life, all of Heavenly Father's spirit children standing all around Him as He introduces this wonderful plan that He is so proud and excited to share with us, and after He explains it all to us He says, "But this is my favorite part, this plan is amazing, but that right there is my favorite part of it all."

I think that is beautiful, and it gives another special meaning to the opportunity to be able to go to the temple and participate in Heavenly Father's favorite part of His plan.

There were many beautiful moments this week, and I have had such a fun time living it. I am so blessed to see the incredible power of the gospel completely change the life of not only an individual, but of an entire family. The gospel has the amazing power to take a family that has been torn and shattered by the world and heal it completely. All the pain and anger and frustration gone. The power of the gospel is real. And I love it!

Love y'all!

Kimber

Sister Beckstrand

This is a beautiful flower we found this week, it's amazing!

And some beautiful fluffy Arkansas clouds

 

Mom post addition:

I got the most beautiful letter from Sister Brummett in the mailbox last week - talking about how wonderful my daughter was, how similar they are, including similar family situations, etc. Even down to the family jokes, "You're my favorite Kimberly" and - Kimberly's dad's favorite - "Dads that tell good Dad jokes, not dumb ones!" She even honored me by comparing me to the mothers of the armies of Helaman  - wow, that's a tribute! I asked Kimberly to pass on a message of thanks to her for me, and she even sent me her email home as well, thus filling me in on another viewpoint of their week. Back and forth, we agreed that "we're going to keep you forever" too. We like that plan a lot. :)

Who's Counting?

My thirteen month mark...it snuck up on me. 

This week has been fun! We've met some interested people, and some people that are not willing to talk to us. This week we met a couple guys who had some questions about what Mormons believe, and we were able to answer them and help clear up things they've heard before, and they were really nice. One of them accepted a return visit. We were on walk week so we didn't get to see a lot of our investigators who don't live very close, and one day we decided to try biking, (I borrowed an elder's bike), but we had to bike for about two to three hours to get to our dinner appointment. Then Sister Fifield fell and got scraped up a bit, but she's all fine now. 

Sis Fifield & Sis Beckstrand.
"Crazy us!!"

Overall, I just love Sister Fifield. We have a lot of fun together!

Sis Zollinger(?) & Sis Beckstrand

This week we had exchanges, and I went to The STLs area with Sister Zollinger and we had a fun time. We had some really good lessons with people and some successful finding. We found a cool guy who actually lives in our area, and he texted us a question after we left. We told him to read chapter one in the Book of Mormon because it answers his question. I had a goal to share doctrine in first contact. I did better that I usually do, and I'm trying to continue that every time I talk to people. 

Yesterday I interpreted in church! (ASL) I was fun, and a lot of people were surprised that I could sign. But it was fun to interpret again. We do language study every day, usually, and we've had two language studies over Skype with another companionship who are also doing some ASL work. It was really fun. And then I went and and played piano for the Spanish branch (it wasn't very pretty) but that was fun. 

And, this Saturday, we have an investigator getting baptized!!!! He is such an amazing mad, and he has a lot of fun stories. Last night we went to talk to our top investigator who is getting baptized the Saturday, but he was already asleep, so we talked to his grandsons out side, they are super less active. We were talking about the gospel and about how they know things, and he got onto us about how we were raised in the gospel and that it was easy and we didn't know anything because of that. I've been getting similar statements from a lot of people ever since I got here last January, and I've always known it wasn't true that I didn't know life, and I never felt that it counted against me that I grew up with it, but those comments always made me wonder how to describe that it was a very good thing that I grew up with it. At that moment I finally understood why I felt that way. I understood how to explain to him so my point of view on how that does not count against me was a good thing. This is sort of like I said it, but in my studies this morning I was thinking about what I said and decided to write it down in my journal because it is an answer I've been searching for ever since the first time it was mentioned. 

'I have been raised in this gospel. I have never strayed far from the path. That doesn't mean that I haven't messed up, and it doesn't mean I know everything and it doesn't mean I don't know any different. Enos 1:1, "...my father...was a just man--for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord--and blessed be the name of my God for it" I do not regret being born in the Gospel. I do not feel like I'm missing anything, it is not less sweet to me because I am used to it. I don't have to mess up to understand. I can be the smarter one, and learn as I observe others mistakes in the lessons they learned from it. It's like the concept in Alma 32:14–15, "...because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word? ...Yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble" In most cases these people are smarter, wiser. They don't have to hurt as much in the process. Again, that doesn't mean I don't mess up, but I like this less painful route, and it has been a blessing in my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission, to see people from all walks of life, to talk to them and learn from them. It is a beautiful blessing that I will never let go.'

Love y'all! 

Kimber

Sister Beckstrand

"He's shaped like a corndog"

Look at that tiny dog!! She's full grown too!

This week was so good. And so exhausting. So many times this week I just fell into bed and fell asleep so fast it was disorienting in the morning. We had a couple incredible meetings this week, first being the Worldwide Missionary Training Broadcast. It was so good, and there were some pretty crazy changes made. The key indicators have changes, we only have four now, and our schedule has been changed. It's going to be an interesting change, but so far it's been great 👍. The other meeting that was incredible was with Elder Neil L. Anderson. The whole mission was there. It was a great experience. I'm still reviewing my notes, but I loved how they talked about giving up everything to Heavenly Father. And Elder Anderson encouraged us to memorize scriptures from the Holy Bible and the Book to Mormon. It was such a great meeting. And it was made even better by the fact that our two recent converts and the Ward mission leader and his girlfriend (who happens to be another recent convert) were our ride, and they stayed for the missionary meeting, and then they went to the youth meeting right after! It was so great.

Another thing that made Sister Lloyd and me so proud, we felt like mothers to their children, was when our branch president switched up the speakers for sacrament meeting and had the youth speak on what they learned from Elder Anderson, and both S & A talked about things they learned and said how they knew the Church was true and gave the best testimonies ever!!! And S blessed the sacrament yesterday!!! It was the best. 😄 We just kept looking at each other and smiling and thinking that they were the best people ever. (Plus it totally let me off the hook for a talk I was going to give on the sacrament. So that worked out 😁)

This area is amazing! The people 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👦here are the best! And there are so many prepared hearts💕! 

And the title of this letter comes from our conversation in the car on the way home (2-2 1/2 hour drive) - apparently that's a thing. They also said that there are some (persons?) shaped like a sucker. It was a funny moment. 

Last night was the first time we didn't have daily planning at night🌄. It's in the mornings now🌅. And it's a good thing because we shut down! We were so exhausted. Sister Lloyd and I were talking in the southern accent, and she said something so completely southern that I died! I just laughed until tears were rolling down my cheeks. 😂 It was the best. 

This week was so good! And we have a possible baptism this weekend. We'll see how it goes, cross your fingers and pray really hard! He is so ready and prepared!! It'll happen sometime anyway, but everyone is hoping this weekend. 

This was just a wonderful week. I spent a lot of time studying the sacrament, and it was neat to learn about it. One thing that I've appreciated understanding better is why we need to take it every week. I understood that that was a thing, and because we are so forgetful as human beings, but it was interesting to connect that as we partake of it weekly we are a continual representative of Jesus Christ. We renew our pledge to him that we will stand as a witness of Him, and the moment we decide to not take the sacrament we make that witness void. We are turning down the Atonement in our lives and put our access to it on hold until we partake of it again. It's a serious matter. That's not to say that if we can't take it for one reason or another we are making that witness void, it's the choice, us using our agency to run down that gift that He's commanded we receive weekly. That hit me pretty hard this week. There is such a thing as being too sick to get there to take it, and things like stake and general conference that prevent that from happening, but those moments are important to help us recognize the difference so we can appreciate it more when we have that opportunity again. Just like when we're sick and we enjoy being healthy so much more for it. Just never choose to be sick- not to take the sacrament. That is when we receive that damnation our soul-we quit growing and changing to be more like Christ. 

I love the gospel. I love the Lord. I love His mercy, His love, His peace, His comfort. Even though I fall so short of the mark, He is still there lifting me and helping me to be better. Sometime I feel like I can't do all He has asked of me, but then I remember who He is (or rather the Spirit reminds me) and I know that I can do it, because He is the one who asked it of me. Because He knows what I can became and He knows how to get me there. I can do all things with God, I just have to humble myself and accept His will. The great and spacious building that is the pride of the world is so huge!! Even the most humble of men still has a rather large corner of that building. There is pride in humility. But as I give it all to Heavenly Father there is strength and growth. I know He is real. God the Father lives. He loves us. Jesus Christ lives and serves us with all He has. I am so grateful for this knowledge and the opportunity to share it with so many people here. 

I love y'all! Thank you for everything you do, and especially for who you are! 

Love Kimber 

Sister Beckstrand

Here we are, enjoying dinner after the meeting with Elder Anderson

Everyone looks so good!

Bubbles! It was a fun week!

In her response to Mom's letter, (for one thing I asked her about the weather):

 You know, it's funny, but it's actually been really nice here lately. Not too cold, but still pretty chilly. It's been hanging around the fifties. Sometimes it gets chilly, but it's been staying nice. It's crazy because it's nearly January, but it feels like it's getting warmer. The trees have even started to bud!!! 

This area is significantly larger than my last areas. And here are a lot of dirt roads we drive on. We have full car (a car all the time) but we do have to take seven walk days a month. It's nice though, we get to plan it and put it on useful days. And the miles are specific for every area. It depends on how big the area is, and what other areas are in the car share. A lot of things go into it, but they work it out...

...It's funny, I can totally feel the difference when we sit down to plan for the next day and start discussing things and we start trying to figure it out, but it's not working and then we stop and remember that we were going to pray, and then it all works out somehow after we pray, it gets better and sometime the day seems to plan itself. It's really fun when ya happens. And it's interesting to note the difference. 

Love you Mom! Kimberly