Surviving an Ice Storm in Maine

Dec. 23, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

Let earth receive her King!!

Dear Family,                      Dec. 23, 2013

So this is probably going to be shorter than usual, but honestly it will be a blessing that I even have the chance to write!!  We have had a massive ice storm here!! It is crazy!! Everything is covered in ice!  We have had to be grounded the past two days.  The weather is insane!  We haven't been to church in two weeks.  

Alright, so pretty much as far as teaching people, we have just taught Valerie.  She is doing amazing!! She is so set for her baptism to be on January 11, and we are so happy for her!  We are going to have Christmas dinner with her and Jason after we go to the Millis's :)  

Miracle of the week:  I have a violin!!!!!  I can't even believe it!!  We went to the community meal and I was talking to someone about the violin and they asked if I would like to borrow one while I am serving in Ellsworth.  Total answer to a prayer.  I have been looking for a violin to accompany Sister Bickel for the song Savior, Redeemer of my Soul.  I am so excited and grateful for this tender mercy!!  It is the greatest ever!! :)  It is a really nice sounding one too!! :)  I love it, and it makes me so happy that I get to play my favorite instrument ever here on my mission!! :)

I am so grateful for this time of year, and I can't believe that Christmas is coming up so fast!!  It flew right by!!  So, while we were grounded we watched a movie that I really enjoyed.  It is called Nora's Christmas Gift.  So, like I said in last week's letter, I've been thinking a lot about giving, but I haven't really thought about receiving.  That is so important too.   Receiving the gift that Christ has so freely given us.  I am so grateful for His life, example, and Atonement.  I need to make sure that I allow Him in my heart.  I need to allow Him to change me, because I know that He will if I let Him.  There are some great scriptures that I've studied about that I don't really have time to talk about, but feel free to give them a look-up.  Alma 5:14, 3 Ne. 9:16-17, 21-22, D&C 39:5, and D&C 112:20.  

Have an amazing Christmas!! I love you all so much, and I can't even describe how happy I am that I get to see/talk with you!! :)  

Let every heart prepare Him room,

Sister Bergeson :)

Dec. 16, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

What shall I give Him?

Hello hello!!                                  Dec. 16, 2013

I hope that you are all doing well!! :)  It has been quite the week here!  Christmas is in the air that is for sure!! 

First, I have some pretty great news.  It all started on Tuesday when we went to teach Valerie along with Sister Millis.  We taught the law of chastity and it went alright, but she and her returning less-active boyfriend weren't too committed to living it.  Then we taught her again on Thursday and it was a fantastic lesson.  She still wants to get baptized on January 11th so bad!  She knows that living the law of chastity is necessary and she wanted to find a way to make it work.  So, we got a call on Friday, and she told us that they are planning on getting married the day of her baptism!!!!  We get pretty great calls from her :)  I just love both of them so much! They are great, and I hope and pray that everything works out for them, and if it does it seems as if I will attend a wedding as well as a baptism this transfer! :) 

As far as the rest of our teaching pool it is kind of shrinking.  Vijay is on Christmas break from the academy so we won't get to teach him again until the beginning of January.  We did teach him this past week though.  The word of wisdom.  It went well, but his attitude toward it is pretty much encompassed in the saying Sister Bickel and I have been quoting like all week, "Don't knock it 'till you try it."  We're going to need to work with him on that a bit.  What a fun lesson :)  We need to do some finding, and that is what we've been trying to do.  What better way to find then help people shovel snow!!  There is a lot of that around here lately.  On Saturday, after our branch Christmas party (which was awesome by the way), we had heard so much about a storm coming in we decided to go buy a shovel.  I'm so glad that we did!  We have sooo much snow!! Yesterday they cancelled church because of the weather, and our car was grounded.  So, what did we do?  Walked in the storm with a shovel helping other people shovel!! :)  It was actually super fun!! :)  It is so beautiful!!  Not the funnest to drive in, but walking was really not as cold as I thought that it would be.  We bundled up really good.  I wish that I could send you pictures this week, but we are at the Bucksport library because we didn't want to drive down to Blue Hill.  Overall, we made some good friends on our shovelling excursion :)  A lady and her daughter invited us in after we helped them, and they were super open and willing to have us come back over!!  Hopefully new investigators :)  Hooray for that!! 

We had zone interviews this week which is always good!  I love being able to gather together with other missionaries and talk about how to become better disciples of Christ as we preach His word :)  I also love our mission president!  He is such a great man and I look up to him and his wife so much.  It is a hard calling, but they are putting everything they have into it!  Just like they ask us to do :) 

Hmm...what else happened this week?  We taught Kaila, and she is doing well!! :)  There are still so many trials she has had to deal with, but she is doing it with a great attitude!  Also, the members are helping so, sooo much with her, it is great! :)  She is amazing!  James is doing great on the ship, he may even be back a month early so we may get to see him again before the next transfer which would be great!  Other than that we have really just been enjoying this time of year!  We listen to Christmas music day in and day out and we just love our decorations :)  We decorated our Christmas light tree and it looks so cute! We also made a fireplace to go next to it!  And now with all of the snow it is practically perfect!! :)

This really is my favorite time of year, and I love being able to celebrate the season on my mission!!  It has put Christmas in a whole new perspective for me.  We go to the store and it is crazy and hectic.  I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with all of that!  We get to spread the good news of the Savior and His gospel and the true meaning of Christmas with everyone we can!!  I've never felt so focused on Christ in my life.  I love my Savior and am grateful for everything that He has given to me!!  I will be forever grateful for the gift of His life and the Atonement.  I've been thinking a lot about gifts lately.  Not about gifts that others will give me, or gifts I will give others, but about a gift that I can give my Redeemer.  There is a Christmas song called In a Bleak Midwinter that has become one of my favorites. It plays over and over in my head.  I love the last verse so much.

What shall I give Him,

poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man,

I would do my part;

Yet what I can,

     I can give Him:

Give my heart.

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know that He is the reason we celebrate Christmas, and we should remember to give a gift to Him this season. 

Love you all so much,

Sister Bergeson :)

Dec. 9, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

The CharACTer of Christ

My dear family,                                     Dec. 9, 2013

I hope that you are doing well, and that you are having a great Christmas season! :)  This week has been pretty hectic, but overall it was quite fantastic!

First things first.  We are officially not homeless anymore!! :)  We had to stay with the Melansons for a week and a half, and it was so nice of them to let us be there.  They are great!  But it was hard to keep up our normal routine and things while we were living with them.  It is nice to have our own space back :)  Our landlord is awesome and got everything done as soon as he possibly could.  That was such a blessing!  Hooray for not having a hole in our roof anymore!

James was also baptized this week!!!!!  It was so good!  We were pretty stressed out about everything the day before though because the program wasn't all put together.  That night we didn't know who would be giving the talks and who would be there because the baptism was at such a peculiar time.  However, everything worked out really well!!  It was miraculous how it all came together at such short notice!  Hooray :)  He was so excited, and he had so much support from his family!  There were seven members of his family that came!  And they all stayed after and chatted with the missionaries and got a tour of the building.  They really enjoyed the service, which was great :)  There were actually a lot of members that were able to come, also!  It was a pretty well-attended service!  The talks all came together and a member of the Branch Presidency took work off so that he could be there so James could also be confirmed.  That was also kind of stressful to work out, but we got permission from our mission president to be able to do that.  Sister Bickel and I also sang a special musical number, I Stand all Amazed :)  It was great, and I love being able to sing with her!  She is awesome!  Overall, the spirit was there very strong.  James is such an amazing person.  He has changed so much and the gospel is now such an important part of his life.  One of the most important things is that he understands that baptism is only the beginning.  It is a gateway onto the path that leads to eternal life.  I'm so grateful for his testimony.  He is such a great example to me.  Now he is excited to go back on the ship and share the gospel with his co-workers!  He is bringing Book of Mormons and pass-along cards and everything :)  What a blessing to be able to teach him and be able to see him enter the waters of baptism and receive the Holy Ghost :)  I feel so honored to be able to play a small part in his conversion. 

Another awesome thing that happened this week had to do with our investigator Valerie.  She is so funny and we love her so much.  Teaching her and her boyfriend (who is a returning less-active) is awesome.  And... She has decided that she wants to be baptized on January 11, 2014!!!! :) :)  We are so excited and happy for her, and she is also so excited to have a baptism date!!  It is so awesome to be able to teach her too.  She is recognizing the Holy Ghost so much more and she is just soaking in the gospel really well!  I love teaching the message of the Restoration, and it is so cool because she doesn't have a religious background at all, so everything is so new to her and she is so willing to listen and ask questions and apply everything that we teach her.  Overall, she is just awesome :)

So, something that has occupied a lot of my study and thoughts this past week was the talk I was assigned to give yesterday.  On fast Sunday I felt like I needed to go and bear my testimony, but I kept putting off the feeling.  After the third hour I felt pretty awful.  I have such a hard time getting up by my own free will and speaking in front of people.  I just felt like I had wasted a great opportunity to share my feelings about the gospel.  My spirits were pretty low as we headed into choir.  On our way up to join with the singing members, President Dauk caught me and asked if I would speak the next Sunday.  He said that I could speak about whatever I wished.  Boy, I guess that is what happens when you postpone a prompting!  Lesson (hopefully) learned.  Talks.  I have realized something about those things.  They are not very fun to give, but I absolutely love preparing for them!! :)  Mostly because I didn't procrastinate it.  I earnestly prayed to know what I should speak on and what scriptures I should use and everything, and it came to the point where I never wanted my personal study to end.  When I first went to the scriptures to see what I should talk about, I went to where I am now in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah Chapter 2.  I love King Benjamin.  He is such a great example to me of service and love, and that is what I decided I would speak on.  Charity is such a crucial gift we should seek for day after day.  It is most certainly something that I have realized more than ever that I need to strive and pray for always.  I referenced the talk The Character of Christ by David A. Bednar, which is one of my absolute favorites.  Please read it!! :) He talks about the Savior setting the ultimate example of love and the need to follow him and reach outward instead of turning inward no matter what trials come our way.  With everything that has been happening to Sister Bickel and I lately, especially with the tree situation, that was exactly what I needed to hear and bear my testimony about.  I know that I have felt the most peace as I have been in the service of others.  I know that Christ has commanded us to love Him and love our neighbors, and we can do that by serving others and in turn serving our Master. Especially as we share the gospel and give a gift to the Savior by inviting others to know Him for themselves (see Elder Ballard's talk from General Conference).  I know that He is always with us, laboring beside us as we do His work and accept His will.  I am so grateful that I am on a mission!!  That I can take this time to focus on growing closer to my Savior, especially during this Christmas season.  I know that He loves each and every one of His children and He will bless us as we strive for charity. 

Have a fantastic week, and keep in mind these inspired words of Elder Bednar,

"The Lord determines if and when we receive all spiritual gifts, but we must do all in our power to desire and yearn and invite and qualify for such gifts.  As we increasingly act in a manner congruent with the character of Christ, then perhaps we are indicating to heaven in a most powerful manner our desire for the supernal spiritual gift of charity.  And clearly we are being blessed with this marvelous gift as we increasingly reach outward when the natural man or woman in us would typically turn inward."

With lots of love,
Sister Bergeson