Fallen tree

Another tree fell on their apartment.  This time with more damage.  Luckily Sister Bickel wasn't in her bed at the time it fell.

Nov. 25 2013, Bucksport, Maine

Peace, Be Still   

Dear Family,                         Nov. 25, 2013

I hope that you have all had a great week!! This has been quite the crazy one for me.  Hopefully I'll have enough time to tell you about it!  I guess I'll get right to it then! :)

So, Monday we had FHE with Tracy and Izzy again, and we made sock snowmen.  It is so much fun to have a craft night with them.  I feel like it has helped us get to know them so much better.  I love doing family home evening!! :)  It is great! :)  Then that night we went on an exchange.  I went to Brewer, and although pretty much everything fell through we had a lot of fun.  They have this amazing new investigator who is so golden that it is crazy!  I love teaching people who are so interested and eager to learn anything and everything that they can about the gospel.  It is amazing, and I just feel so amazing to be able to share it with them :)  Although it was sad not being able to stay here and teach our investigators.  Exchanges can be pretty bittersweet sometimes, but I absolutely love them!! :) The sisters that are in my zone are fantastic!! 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were pretty routine.  Not much to report, except for the fact that we got the most amazing phone call I have ever received Friday morning.  Our investigator, Valerie, called us to tell us about her experience with the Jehovah Witnesses.  They had been coming regularly and she had tried to tell them to stop coming in the past, but that morning she was a bit more bold with them.  She said she flat out told them that she is going to be baptized into the Mormon church.  That crazy moment when your investigator calls you and tells you that she is going to be baptized.  I would have never guessed.  It is really exciting!  I love Valerie so much, teaching her is great!! :)  We will definitely have to get a baptism date for her soon!!  While I'm talking about baptismal dates, James is still set for December 4th, and oh, there is another cool thing that I forgot to mention.  On Thursday, his mom invited us over while he was out on his hunting trip.  She and her sister had a couple of questions for us.  Pretty basic.  They pretty much wanted to have a basic overview of the church.  We had a great talk, and they were so nice.  Before we left we sang them I am a Child of God, and the spirit was there so strong!  They were both crying, and it was amazing to see the spirit touch their hearts!  They will both be at the baptism with their husbands and James's parents are going to be at a pie night activity we are having on Tuesday!! :)  Great things are happening! :)  It is amazing! 

So, now maybe I'll get into the not so great.  Saturday was one of the craziest days of my mission experience to date.  We were following the daily schedule and were just finishing up with our companion scripture study when we heard a loud bang.  Our whole house shook.  We had absolutely no idea what happened, but I was thinking it could have been some sort of earthquake or lightening bolt.  We ran upstairs to see what could have happened, and upon our arrival we beheld a hole in our ceiling.  The sheet rock had caved in and it was quite the mess right above Sister Bickel's bed.  A tree (another part of the tree that fell in July/August time) fell on our apartment due to the harsh winds.  From there I don't even know how to explain what happened.  We called so many people we had people calling us our neighbors were over to see what happened, our landlord came with a carpenter, and overall, we were informed that no matter what, we would not be sleeping in our apartment that night.  Maybe not even for a couple weeks.  The whole ceiling needs to be fixed.  So, we hurriedly threw some things into suitcases and hurried out of there.  I would never have guessed I'd have the opportunity to experience homelessness while on a mission!  Quite the adventure.  I'm pretty sure I'll do everything I can to avoid that when I get home.  But really, the world adventure doesn't begin to describe everything.  We decided that we would go and help a member move like we had planned, and after we headed to the branch president's house in Sedgewick.  He was nice enough to provide a roof over our head and feed us food.  It was a pretty humbling experience, that's for sure.  His daughters gave up their beds, and we just tried to wrap our heads around what just happened.  The next day was just as stressful.  I was so exhausted, and there was so much I needed to do, but I kinda felt in a fog.  We had branch council, and that just wasn't very good at all.  Pretty contentious, sadly.  Then, we went back to President Dauk's house, ate lunch, then headed to a less-active member's house to visit.  While we were there, her power went out.  I was sad that our visit had to be cut short, but that was how it was.  It was so windy and cold.  0 degrees with the wind chill...brrrr!!  When we arrived back at the Dauk"s we were informed that their basement had some flooding because one of their pipes froze.  Then, after dinner, a tree fell on their power line and the power and running water shut off.  I'm pretty sure that we have become bad luck or something.  It has all just been crazy and stressful and not easy.  In the midst of all of this, I may or may not have needed a break and I put it off too long because it came to a point where I didn't really feel like I could function.  I felt so alone and helpless.  I didn't know what to do.  Through the midst of all of my emotions the thought came to just pray.  Boy can I tell you I prayed and prayed!  I poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father and asked for strength and comfort, and I felt so good afterwords!  The scripture comes to mind, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).  I know that God is always there.  He knows me perfectly and loves me!!  I could feel his love for me this weekend so strongly as I came to Him and pleaded for help.  He listens and answers prayers.  He cares.  We just need to take the time to be still.  In life it may feel like a tempest is raging, but the Master is in control of all, and we can have peace if we turn to Him.  (See Hymn 105 :)) 

I am so grateful for everything I have.  I'm grateful for the members!  We are going to be back in Bucksport and living with members here temporarily.  We are continuing to pray that everything will work out fine, and I know that it will go according to God's plan :)  I know that this all happened for a reason.  I've learned so much!  I'll continue to learn so much!  And I'll keep moving forward in faith :)  I'm so grateful for all of you back home.  I love you so much and I hope that you have a fantastic Thanksgiving!! :) 

Count your many blessings!

Sister Bergeson :)

Nov. 18, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

What Lack I Yet?

Dear family,                                    Nov. 18, 2013

I really hope that you had a great week!  I loved seeing the pictures that you sent from when you celebrated Amy and Erin's birthday.  I seriously can't believe that they are 19 years old.  Holy Cow!!  I'm glad they are having a good time in Logan!  Also, I'm glad that grandpa is doing better! :)  Hooray!  I just love getting updates from you and hearing all the great things that are going on at home!

There are great things going on here as well!! :)  Sister Bickel and I get along really well!  I love her so much :)  It is great!  Right now we only have three investigators, but the good news is that we are teaching them all regularly and they are all progressing! :)  James is especially doing amazing!  We had a great lesson with him last week where he pretty much thanked us for changing his whole entire life.  The thing is... it wasn't us.  It was most certainly the gospel :)  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!!  It has allowed James to overcome so many addictions that were holding him back and he has changed so much!  I'm grateful that I'm able to teach him!  He is amazing!  He is still set for his baptism on the 4th of December, also!  We've also been teaching Valerie and it is clicking so well for her.  She loves the principles of the gospel and it is great to teach such an eager learner! :)  Vijay is doing well also, but he isn't quite as eager.  We're going to do better at asking more questions (questions are key!) and applying the doctrine to him personally more. :)  I love teaching the gospel, it is such a great blessing! :) 

As far as exciting things that happened this week... we most certainly built a shed.  Yup! :)  We went and helped a member winterize her house and she had a bunch of random materials on-hand so we build her a place to store her lawn mowers and snow blower.  And the materials she had on-hand?  Shutters.  Yes, indeed we constructed a shutter shed :)  Awesome! :)  I loved being outside and working and helping!  It was great!  President Dauk was the mastermind behind the whole thing.  He is such a great Branch President!!  He has such a big heart :)  I love serving with the members in the Ellsworth Branch, they are fantastic!! :)  We also had our primary presentation this week, which was amazing.  One of the most moving Sacrament meetings I have ever attended.  Children are such amazing examples to me.  I love being able to listen to them and hear their testimonies through word and song.  The spirit was there in abundance.  There was also someone else there.  Kaila!!! :)  That was a direct answer to prayer.  She called up a member to give her a ride and Sister Millis took a 40 minute detour to pick her up to take her to church.  That goes to show the fantastic-ness of the members!  Kaila is still struggling, but it seemed like she had a great time being back at church!  I love her so much, and even though things are hard for her right now, I know that she can overcome anything if she relies on the Savior. 

As far as the weather goes.  It is quite sporadic.  Not very cold some days, super cold the next.  But one thing is constant.  The lack of sun in the evening.  It is soooo weird!! I'm not used to how dark it is at all.  The sun is pretty much gone at 4:30 and people are all eating dinner and getting ready for bed around 5-6.  Crazy!  It wears me out quite a bit, and it is hard because we are suppossed to be doing missionary work until 9 at night.  But mornings are fantastic!! It is weird, but I love getting up at 6:30 and excercising!! :)  It makes the whole rest of the day so much better.  I've gotten more and more energy at morning time which is great!  I'm bound and determined to become a morning person!! (while on my mission at least). 

So, this week I've continued my study in the New Testament, and I can't even tell you how much I LOVE it!! :)  It is truly one of the best times of the day! :)  Me and my scriptures :)  I love learning from the life of Christ and His teachings!  One parable that I have spent studying a lot is that of the Laborers in the Vineyard.  I love all of it, but I have focused a lot on what happens right before the parable is given (Matthew 19: 16-26).  It all starts when a young man comes up to Jesus and asks Him what he should do to have eternal life to which Jesus answers, keep the commandments.  The man then says, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?"  And I love the Master's reply.  "Go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and COME, and FOLLOW ME."  The young man had great possessions and went away sorrowful.  Worldly possessions were his weakness, and although he kept the commandments and lived a good life, he needed to give everything He had to God, no matter how great the sacrifice, in order to obtain eternal life.  So it is with us.  In Jesus the Christ, James E. Talmage challenges us to ask the question, what do I lack?  I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  What can I change to become closer to my Savior?  I feel like I've changed a lot, but each day I recognize more and more things that I need to work on, more weaknesses to give to the Lord!  One thing that President Wilkey asked me my first interview in the mission field was how much of my heart I was willing to give to Christ.  I answered 100%.  I want to give everything that I have to my Savior and Redeemer, because without Him I would be nothing. It is certainly not easy to sacrifice and change, and I know that I am far from perfect, but I have this promise, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."  I am so grateful for my Savior who teaches me everyday how to become more like Him.  And because He is merciful I know that I can follow His plea, "come, follow me."

I love the gospel!  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ!  I know I am a child of God and He loves me!  I am so grateful I'm here serving the people of New England, and I'm so grateful for all of you :)

God is good!
Sister Bergeson :)

Nov. 12, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

What a week. EXCLAMATION POINT!

Hello, hello!!                 Nov. 12, 2013

How are you all doing?  I got the package you sent me and it was great!  Thank you so much! :)  It is great hearing from you!  So, I don't really have too much time, but I definitely want to fill you in on this crazy week, so it will probably be scattered, but here it goes. 

The beginning of the week started of with a bang.  We had a great FHE lesson with a less-active and her daughter who are hilarious.  Really!  I love them so much.  She and her older daughters pretty much convinced her daughter that she was going to turn into an ostrich for a whole year and a half.  They are so silly!! :)  (don't worry, she knows that she won't now).  Then, on Tuesday we had a lot of member visits, and it was fantastic!  I love the members in our branch!  They all have such cool stories of how they ended up in Ellsworth, ME, it is great!  I just love being in their homes and talking with them about the gospel!  They are getting more and more excited about missionary work too, which is great!  Missionary work has just been stressed so much within the branch and stake this week :)  Awesome :)

Wednesday on we kinda started to get a bit sick, which was no fun :(  It is definitely getting a lot colder!  Hence our colds.  But we've made it through and are now on the road to recovery!  Hooray!  Our stress has gone way down now that we've made it through the weekend :)  So, pretty much Friday was our sick day.  Neither of us were feeling well and we had to take a nap after our weekly planning.  Then later, we had a lesson with Vijay that fell through because of miscommunication.  Overall, not the best day, but boy Saturday was one for the books!  James is back!!  We went and saw him and he is doing so well!! We went and volunteered at the clothes closet (the free clothes place I may or may not have written about, I don't know).  And it was great!  I love free clothes :)  After we did that, we got a message from a non-member that she had set everything up for us to perform for a benefit concert.  It was crazy from that time on.  We drove down with her to the concert which was held at a school, and I was super, super scared, but it was amazing!! :)  It happened, I survived, and I grew a lot!! :)  I can certainly do hard things! 

Then on Monday we had zone conference!  I wish that I could tell you word for word everything that was said.  It was amazing!  Elder Nielson came and toured our mission (he spoke in conference about exclamation points!)  and boy he is amazing!!  He has so much energy!  He is exactly like how he was in conference :)  They talked a lot about the story of Ammon, about being leaders, about being unified in our companionship's, about prayer, about covenants, about marriage, and about working hard and being good missionaries!! :)  It was great!  I loved being able to listen to my leaders and feel the excitement of the hastening of the work!! 

I love you all so much!!  Have a great week!! :)

Sister Bergeson :)

New companion, Sister Bickel

Nov. 4, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

Remember, Remember

Hello my wonderful family!!                            Nov. 4, 2013

I hope that you have had a fantastic week! :)  It has been great here in Ellsworth 2!  Time has just flown right by, and we've been going going going! :)  We've also been cold!  The temperature is starting to drop, and boy humidity really does make a huge difference!  I'm very grateful for my warm clothes, that's for sure :)  So, the highlights of this week...

I went on an exchange with our new sister training leader, Sister Sowards, and it was fantastic!! She is great :)  We taught Valerie, and her friend that introduced her to the church was there, which was really good!  It will be weird not going on so many exchanges because I love them, but I'm glad that I'll be able to stay with Sister Bickel in our area more :)  We have been having such a fun time together!  She is amazing, and I just love her so much!  We are quite silly, and I'm really glad we can smile and laugh so much!  I love singing with her, and we sing a lot!! I've gotten really lucky with my companions, that's for sure :)  It's great! 

On Wednesday we were able to see quite a few less-active members, which was great!  They are really nice, and I love being able to remind them of the spirit they felt at the time they joined the church.  We have also been trying to go see Kaila, but it has been rough for her.  I can't believe everything that is happening!  It is so hard and sad to see, but I know that everything happens for a reason, and this is all just part of God's plan for her.  I just love her so much!!  The branch members are great though, and have been good at continuing to try and help her through this hard time. 

And then, it was Halloween!!!  Sister Bickel and I made Rice Krispy treats to hand out to members and investigators in Bucksport :)  It was a lot of fun!  It was great to see so many people in such a short amount of time, and it reminded me of how grateful I am to be a missionary and to have these people in my life!  I really can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't chosen to go on a mission.  I've learned so much I don't even know where to start.  I'm grateful for chances like that.  To look back and to remember!  Prophets in the Book of Mormon encourage us to remember things that our fathers have experienced and also our own experiences.  I feel like I have grown so much!  It also reminds me of what we taught James yesterday.  We discussed part of the talk that dad sent to me by Elder Bednar called Seek Learning by Faith.  I just love that talk by the way!!  We talked about Faith being an assurance that leads to action and then how we receive evidence after the trial of our faith.  It's looking to the future, acting in the present and then looking to the past to see how the hand of God has worked in our lives.  I feel like going on a mission was definitely a leap of faith, but now looking back, I've seen so many miracles and blessings that I would have never experienced any other way!  And I've got so much more time to learn and to grow!! :)  It's not easy in the least bit, but I know that it will all be for my good! 

Missionary work is definitely the most fulfilling thing that I've ever done, that's for sure!  And it is amazing how much the work is hastening!  That was the topic of our Stake conference this week, and it was awesome!  I loved it so much!  I love Maine, I love the Bangor Stake, and I love my Ellsworth Branch!! :)  I'm so grateful that I'm here serving the Lord!!

I love you so, soooo much!  Have a great week!

Look back and remember what the Lord has done for you and express gratitude, especially this Thanksgiving season!

Sister Bergeson :)