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