Dec. 2, 2013 Bucksport, Maine

Come what may and love it :)

Family Dearest!! :)                Dec. 2, 2013

I hope that you have had a great week and that you ate lots of delicious food on Thanksgiving!  Thanks for the package you sent me mom, I am so excited for the Christmas season, and it just wouldn't have been the same without an advent calendar :) 

This week has been another crazy one for us here in Ellsworth, Maine.  We have most of our stuff in the Melanson's house still and we felt bad for intruding on their Thanksgiving holiday, but they are so kind and they didn't seem to mind.  We are grateful that we have someplace to call home temporarily while ours is in repair.  Hopefully we will be able to move back in sometime this week though.  Our landlord is really making sure that everything is getting done as soon as possible, which we are so grateful for!  Right now they have got the roof re-shingled and the sheet rock all fixed inside, so hopefully only sanding and painting need to be done!! 

Tuesday we had a really great day.  We made a pie for our branch activity- Pie night.  This is the most genius activity every thought up.  Seriously.  We all got together and ate as much pie as we could.  They had so many different kinds of pies, and it was just so yummy!  I can't believe I didn't used to like pie.  I may have ate quite a lot of it.  Actually, I have ate so much this whole week in general.  The members are really taking care of us.   The Melanson's house is pretty much a snack bomb.  They have 7 tubs of ice cream in their freezer (all of the flavors of which are delicious), a whole cupboard filled with assortments of chips and candy bars and like 4 different pies in the fridge.  I have found that I really need to be better at exercising my self-control while living there.  It didn't really help that it was Thanksgiving either.  We went to President Dauk's house, and we had such a good time!!  It was amazing :)  They also invited the Odland family over, so there were quite a few of us around their table.  The food was delicious, but the best part was being able to share memories and laugh :)  It is great to see the blessing that come from family relationships!  We all shared a funny memories from the holiday season, and of course, I had to share about the Thanksgiving where you totally forgot about me taking a nap at Grandma and Grandpa's and proceeded to eat a whole Thanksgiving dinner without noticing I was absent.  Ahh memories :)  And to this day I am still thankful for leftovers ;)  After dinner we cleaned up and talked more and played some games and such, and it was just so great!  I love Thanksgiving!  Then, we went to a single less-active member's home and visited with her because she didn't have any plans for the holiday at all.  We had a really great lesson with her about enduring to the end.  The ride home was probably the most memorable event of the week though.  I noticed that Sister Bickel was pretty quiet and looked super tense at the wheel.  I asked what I could do to help her, to which she flat out responded, "I'm going to puke."  So we pulled over, and that is exactly what she did.  I felt so bad!  It is no fun being sick, but on a holiday?  Even worse!  I had to finish driving back and make occasional stops along the way.  Not fun at all :(  She was a good sport about it though.  Well, as good a sport as you can be when you experience Thanksgiving dinner an unexpected second time on the same day...  We spent the next two days at the Melanson's resting so Sister Bickel could get her strength back. 

Saturday night was transfer calls.  I don't remember if I told you or not.  But it really doesn't matter that much anyways because..... I"M STAYING IN ELLSWORTH!!!!!  :) :) :)  Hooray!! :)  And Sister Bickel is staying here with me too! :)  I'm so grateful that I will have another transfer in this amazing area!! :)  At least 5 transfers here :)  Needless to say, I'm really happy about that.  Also, on Sunday Valerie came with her three kids!  That was so great :)  And James is set for his baptism on Wednesday.  We are trying to pull everything together as best we can.  It has been pretty stressful though. 

Honestly.  I have had to deal with a lot of stress lately.  With everything that has happened with our apartment, transfer calls, and a baptism coming up and such.  One of my weaknesses has been brought out pretty clearly- patience.  Especially patience with myself.  A quote from President Monson comes to mind from Preach my Gospel. "Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature.  There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all.  Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required."  It seems like we have been through one trial after another, and it hasn't been easy, that is for sure.  I feel like that is what a whole mission is- a test of our capacity to endure.  Actually, I take that back.  That is what life is!  That is why patience is so important! What better place to learn that than on a mission :)  I feel like I have received so much strength and I have felt the spirit guiding and comforting me more than I have in my whole life as I have been through all of this.  The story of the people of Alma in Mosiah chapter 24 comes to mind.  I love this story and the example they are to me, especially now.  Verse 15 is one of my favorites.  It says, "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."  That is what I have been striving for these past couple weeks.  I know that life will never be easy.  Trials and challenges should be expected.  But I want to be able to handle them cheerfully and with patience, always.  I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon.  I'm grateful for prayer.  I'm grateful for these challenging times because they have really helped me look for the good in everything.  The phrase, "Come what may and love it" has a whole different meaning to me now :)  And I know that no matter what happens the rest of my mission and the rest of my life, God will be there to support and strengthen me as I strive to patiently endure to the end.  I love Him and am so blessed to know that He is my Heavenly Father.  What a perfect plan He has for all of us!! :) 

I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week filled with the joy of the Christmas spirit :) 

Let us all press on,

Sister Bergeson :)