Sister Eliza Adelaide Beeson
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
My LAST letter home!
Hey
hey! Wow, things just don't seem real. This week has been the BIGGEST
emotional roller coaster of my life. Sister Smith and I laugh now about
how we lived EVERYDAY last week as the same day. Over and over and over
and over. It went like this:
Taught
D all we could, seeing BEAUTIFUL changes come over her like never
before, prepping for her baptismal interview.Visited Bro Hollins who was on Hospice, holding his hand, singing to him,
and listening to him tell us, his 'daughters' (he has '4 daughters'
--sister missionaries... I'm 'D4') He'd tell us his last words and how
MUCH we meant to him and would just cry and cry. Eat, sleep, repeat.
Over and over. From Monday to Saturday.
D passed her interview. :)
Sunday
rolled around and I had my talk ready and prepared that I spent a good
amount of time preparing, and well, I had 'trunky brain' I guess and...
totally forgot my talk. I went to the FH Library to print of some of my
'death letter' to go off of that, but... the printer didn't work. God
apparently wanted me to just speak from my heart. I simply had my Book
of Mormon and my testimony. It turned out decent.
Had 4 investigators to church.
Andddd...
all of this mixed in with crazy emotions of leaving and blah blah
blah... so yeah, things have just been pretty crazy!
So, that's all. I'm so excited to see you guys in like... 50 hours. :) That's so cool.
I love you all and will see you in 2 :) xoxo
Monday, November 17, 2014
Nov 17
Hey,
mom!
Thanks for the wonderful email. That was very uplifting.
You're the best.
And everything you said is TRUE.
I wondered what I was
going to share with you this week, I thought of just sending my 'death
letter' that I mailed to Pres, but I decided I will probably keep that
for my homecoming talk ;)
Something amazing happened last night, one of
the most pivotal moments on my mission, and I'm so blessed that it
happened so soon before going home. I honestly don't even know where to
start, there are so many significant details that happened to make all
that worked out, work out. I guess I'll just start with this:
Imagine
teaching the Catholic Pope. Someone who is so set in his ways about his
beliefs. It would almost seem impossible. That is how it seemed with
our neighbor, D. D is in her late 50's, she is VERY educated. She
was an 'ordained minister'. She has the Bible memorized, has read it in
multiple languages including Hebrew which she learned herself. She is a
very logical thinker. She needs evidence. D has been in contact
with the missionaries multiple times over the past 10 years.
When
I arrived in New Brighton 3 months ago, I met D as we were with one
of our other investigators. After that meeting, all that I heard from my
companion was, "Supposedly, we 'don't teach D'... she is apparently
too set in her ways, her heart is not opened for truth, she will never change."
Well, we'd go by often to do service or cook with her,
she'd invite us for dinner, and then want to come to church with us off
and on, and even President Firesides... She came to the one last month
where Elder Carlson from the 70 spoke and did a question answer sesh...
she loved that, and apparently after the meeting she went up to talk to
him personally, and all she told us is that he invited her to do some
specific assignments, and then he, along with President Forbes invited
her to be baptized. Hmm... all these things eventually led her to decide
that she really wanted to 'meet with the Mormon's again.' That was
pretty exciting!
Every
appointment with D was more of a.... 'D teaching us sesh' and we'd
NEVER get to say anything, and if we did, she'd shoot it down. She
openly believes in the trinity, does not believe Joseph Smith was
a prophet, and the only part of the Book of Mormon that she believes are
the chapters that quote Isaiah. We thought, 'Wow... those past sisters
were right.. maybe she is too set in her ways.' And to be frank, I was pretty
scared to teach her, because... I felt like she was a 'pastor Kim' in a
way, and I remember how awful I felt when my testimony was
shattered every five seconds, so to be honest, I wouldn't say very
much.. But even with those thoughts in our minds and feelings we had,
there was STILL something pushing us to continue to meet with her and
serve her.
*insert beautifully significant details to show God's hand is completely in D's life*
After
a series of events, we made an appointment with our investigator L who we haven't been able to see for over a month. We knocked on L's
door, and she was gone to D's! We decided to pop over, and we shared a
message with both of them. This was the only time I truly spoke up and
shared a message. I read a little bit of 'You Matter to Him' by Dieter
F. Uchdorf. At that moment I felt a VERY clear and distinct love for
these two women. And that was a blessing! My comp and I have been
PRAYING for the gift of charity. I was blessed to have a little taste of
what Heavenly Father felt for His daughters. And then I testified. I
honestly don't remember what I said, but the Spirit was there, and that
was the first time that D did not say a WORD. She just listened. It
was a MIRACLE! My comp and I had been trying to get investigators to
come to the President's fireside that Sunday, and D has already been a
thousand times, so we weren't planning on inviting her, but I blurted
out that invite to her anyway... (which also did not come from me,
because I was not planning to do that.)
*More significant details to make this all happen*
We
got to President's fireside, and while Sister Smith and I were mixing
and mingling with people before the meeting, the member that took D
and us asked D when she is going to stop smoking. D just said "I
don't know. But I think it is really insignificant to give up things
JUST to be a member of your church." Welllllllllll... those recent
converts who spoke last night (two of them specifically) spoke into
each of us the importance of living the Word of Wisdom and how it has
completely transformed their lives. D was balling. (Never had seen
that.) After the meeting, she turned to me and whispered,
"If I happened to get baptized, they would have to record it so that you could see it at home."
"Wait, you're considering baptism???"
*Smirky
smile* "I need to go talk to that guy" She pointed to a stake
president. All I saw was him making very bold hand motions and her
crying and smiling. He called us over and said that D wants to be
baptized. WHAT?!?!??!?! 10 YEARS OF MISSIONARIES AND NOW IT HAS
COME!!!!! We were WIGGING out. President Stacey said something to D
like, "D, I promise you in the name of the Lord that as you truly make
the changes necessary to be baptized, you WILL be granted the strength
you need to give up this physical substances. There is not ONE thing in
this world that Christ could not strengthen you for." D asked for a
Priesthood blessing from Pres Stacey (which is also a miracle. In the 10
years of her studying with us, she has NEVER let anyone give her a
blessing.)
We
gathered in the many many sister missionaries who have taught D, and
in a full room, D bore her sweet testimony. She expressed that last
President Fireside she was asked to do some specific assignments from
Elder Carlson, and she did them, and that the fireside that evening
solidified and answered her questions. She openly expressed the Book of
Mormon to be the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet
of God. There was not a dry eye in that room. WOW.
President
Stacey laid his hands on her head and pronounced the most beautiful
blessing upon her I have ever heard. It was very sacred, so I won't
share all of it, but I will share something that meant a lot to me. He
said: "Sister D, The Lord wants you to know that every sister that is
gathered around you in this room has fulfilled a promise that they made
Heavenly Father in the pre-earth life, to come down, to find you, to
comfort you, to teach you, and help you return to Him."
Wow...
I am getting teary just writing this!! After the blessing when he left,
all of us sisters had a little 'pre earth moment' I'd like to call it.
:) I feel very very strongly that that is true. And the reason I do is
because my first transfer in New Brighton while I was going through a
rough time, I got a blessing, and in the blessing it said "Sister
Beeson, your Heavenly Father wants you to know that last minute changes
were made for you to be here in New Brighton to fulfill a very
significant and important purpose." I know I'm here for D.
D
asked when she could be baptized, and they said that the 29th of
November would probably be the soonest. Wow!!! Amazing. We were all so
happy. As the night went on, D took President Forbes aside, and they
talked for a bit, and then I was able to find out that President Forbes
changed her date from the 29th to the 25th... the DAY BEFORE I go home!
All of the departing missionaries will be at D's baptism that night at
7pm.
Heavenly
Father works miracles and wonders. I KNOW that this is the true church.
The Spirit is REAL, and it works through people's hearts, even the ones
that seem impossible to change; ESPECIALLY those ones. I am so so so
blessed to be a part of this work, and am so blessed to have finished
this sacred part of my life with a very big and unforgettable miracle.
I love you and will see you next week!
All my love,
Sister Beeson
Nov. 11th
Hey there, loved ones!
Mom... I'm so sorry you've been down and dizzy! But I'm glad you're feeling better!
Yeah,
the time has come... I received my 'death packet'... that was... pretty
emotional. I cried a little bit. :( But it's exciting at the same time,
ya know? I have a looooot to do for that 'death packet'... what did you
receive in the mail? I'm curious! I need to sum up these 18 months into
4-5 pages... excuse me? That's not possible. :) I'll email it to you
next week.. orrrr... just use it as my homecoming talk ;)
I'm blessed to
learn from Sister Smith who is really good at talking things through.
She'll be a great mama. Missions are GREAT. But I'm just so blessed that
I've learned how to communicate. I legitimately did NOT know how when I
came out.
Let's see...the work is moving forward. So...I will just tell you about it when I get home:)
Our
first snowfall was... TODAY! 6 inches and we're supposed to have 14 by
tomorrow! You're right, I probably shouldn't have sent my boots home,
huh? Oh well!
An
Elder I serve with knows how DEPRIVED I am of Café Rio, so as we were
talking he was moving something around in his pocket, and finally (I
could tell that this was something really difficult for him to do) he
pulled out a Café Rio card that has 10 stamps on it ready to be a 'FREE
MEAL' hoping to get one here in Minnesota, when in reality... no café
rio's exist here. He said "You're going home sooner than anybody else I
know right now, plus... It sounds like you're more in love with this
place than I am." WIN MY SOUL, WONTCHA?!
We had a sleepover and pancakes with our sisters last night :)
Things
are going well. I'm currently studying about discipleship, and I got an
awesome email from a friend that talks about it! I'll forward that in a
sec. I love you all and will see you in a couple weeks!
-Sister Beeson
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