Halfway
and Birthday :)
Family!! March 10, 2014
I hope that you have had a totally
fantastic week!! This one has been way busy for us here, but it was
really great! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by though!
It was a landmark week, that is for sure! :)
But first I want to tell you more about
one of our investigators! His name is Michael, and he is amazing.
He is 65 years old and has been through so much in his life. We have been
teaching him for a while and he has been slowly progressing. His
understanding of the Book of Mormon has grown and we read it over the phone
with him every week. It is amazing to hear how the words of God effect
him. This week we read in 1 Nephi 19 and it talks about Laman and Lemuel
living in the past. He feels like he lives in the past and sometimes I do
as well. It was great to be able to learn and grow from him. The
next day we were able to teach him the Word of Wisdom. His life has been
really rough. He started drinking and smoking under the age of 6. I
still can't believe it. He has quit drinking, but he really wants to quit
smoking, and I'm so grateful that we have the chance to try to help him!
We have been using members a lot. We have a member that comes with us to
every lesson, and she invited him to a ward activity that we had. Karaoke
night, quite fun :) I just really love teaching him because the
determination he has to be better. He loves God and I'm just so grateful
for his example to me. It seems that everyone that I have had the
privilege of teaching has taught me so much! What a blessing!!
Alright, so March 5th was my halfway
mark. I really can't even believe it! More than 9 months serving in
Maine! It has been filled with peaks and valleys, but overall the ride
has been the best I've ever taken!! We were able to volunteer at the historical
society here in Bethel that day and we got to hold a sword that was used in the
revolutionary war. That was really awesome!! It was amazing to
think that someone so long ago was using it, I wonder whose it was and the
story behind that sword. It was just really cool! It was a great
day!
The next day was great as
well!! It was my birthday!! :) I really can't even believe that I
am 21. Nope. Not at all. It has just gone by so fast!
So, that day we had our district meeting which was really good. I love
district meetings and everything that I learn from them! During lunch the
elders brought out a cake for me and they all sang me happy birthday :)
It was really nice, and amazing cake too!! I don't know how to spell it,
but it is something like thres leches (three milks in English). It was
great! Then we explored a town in our area that I'd never worked in
before, which was good. We did have a bit of a bit of a hang up with our
phone though. It was dropped and I guess there was a glitch in it because
it wouldn't let us call people, which isn't very helpful as a missionary.
But we were able to call using a member's phone and get a replacement on the
way. So, for dinner Brother Hathaway, probably the sweetest old man ever,
took us out to dinner at this super delicious restaurant!! :) It was
really nice of him!! After that we had two lessons, the last with Adan
and Sheny. It went really well and after, Sheny brought out a cake!
Thres Leches! :) It really is such great cake, and I thought it was
pretty crazy that I had two of them in one day!! They are so nice, I just
love them! :) After, we went home and planned then I opened the packages
you sent :) Thank you so much I love the gifts, they are perfect!!
:) I especially loved hearing the recording of you singing happy birthday
to me! It totally topped off a wonderful day! :)
The next day was really busy with
weekly planning, but miracle! Our phone started working again!! :)
Hooray!! Now what to do with the replacement when it comes... Anyways, we
went to karaoke night, which was good because we wouldn't really of had
anywhere else to go because I kind of locked us out of the apartment.
Whoops... But now we have a spare, so maybe it was more of a blessing in
disguise. :)
Saturday was booked from beginning
to end, and we had good lessons and a great member meal!
Overall, this week was great!
:) A highlight of my studies was probably a talk I read called Look Ahead
and Believe by Elder Dube from the past conference. It was perfect!
Sometimes it is easy for me to look back and think about everything that I have
been able to do on my mission. It has been hard but wonderful! But
I love the council Elder Dube gives. He points out that it is much more important
to look ahead at what we still have to do. I know that I need to make
sure that I give my all and never start to live in the past. Like Elder
Holland says, "faith is always pointed toward the future." I
have loved my mission so far, it has been incredible, but I know that I need to
look ahead at what I still have to do. I still have been blessed with 9
more months of full-time service in the Lord's vineyard and I need to use it to
the fullest! I don't know where those future months will take me, but I know
that it will all be exactly what I need to grow closer to the Savior.
What a great week! :)
Well, again, I just love you all so much! I'm so grateful for you, and I
hope that you enjoy the coming week!!
Keep moving forward!
Sister Bergeson :)
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