Monday, March 31, 2014

March 26, 2014 Bethel, Maine

Lord, I would Follow Thee
Hey Hey Family!                                         March 26, 2014
I hope you all had a fantastic week!  I got your letters and wow!  Shorts and flowers?  That is quite the opposite of what we are experiencing here in Maine!  This has been a very long winter, and even though it can be pretty, I wouldn’t mind a change of scenery.  And temperature.
So this week has pretty much been a blur.  It’s been busy and I can hardly remember everything that has happened.  District P-Day was great!  We played Mystic Wood again :)  Then we had a lesson with Arleen (we’re teaching her the stop smoking program today) and she’s been progressing well.  We also had a great lesson with Sheny and Luis.  I love that Guatemalan family!!  They are great!  Luis had read 40 chapters in a day from the Book of Mormon, which was awesome!  He still has some reservations about being baptized right now, but he’ll get there!  Tuesday, we went and volunteered at a food pantry, then we dropped our car off at the body shop in Norway.  Our poor car had a cracked bumper that needed to be fixed.  We don’t know how it happened, but it’s been cracked for a while and we finally got the go ahead to get it repaired.  It was sad though.  We pretty much felt homeless.  We drive so much we practically live in it.  Thankfully we have amazing ward members here who drove us around and helped us out!  They are great!  Wednesday we had a lesson with Michael.  He is amazing!  His health isn’t very good, which is sad, but he really has a desire to learn and change!!  We also helped someone move, had a great lesson with a determined less-active who just needs a bit of motivation to get back into coming to church, and had a lesson with Jessica, our 13 yr. old investigator who really wants to be baptized :)  After that, we went to the YW fundraiser dinner and talent show.  Sister May accompanied me on the violin and we played a hymn for it.  It was fun!  Such a great, busy day!
The next day we got hit with a huge storm.  Had we have had the car, it would have been grounded.  I still just can’t believe the amount of snow we have!  Crazy.  We were able to get out and contact a couple people down the road though.  So that was great!
Friday we had district meeting and the ride down there was pretty crazy.  The GPS tried to take the Elders down this one short-cut road that didn’t go through.  The road wasn’t plowed.  The roads here seem to have a lot of dead ends.  On the way though they totally lost the undercarriage of their car.  This is the third car they have done some damage to.  The weather really isn’t liking the mission vehicles it would seem.  District meeting was great, and on the way back, we picked up our car!!  Yay!  Later, we had a lesson with Adan.  He is doing great and things are working out for his baptism on April 4th :)  We are all very excited!! 
Saturday we went from appointment to appointment, and Sunday we were able to set a baptismal date with Jessica for April 19th!! :)  Easter weekend!  We also had dinner with the Lilly’s and a movie night with the Rodriguez’s.
Overall, it was a really wonderful week!!  Sister May and I have a good time and we both love missionary work :)  I’m really grateful I get to be with her because I’ve learned a lot from her.  One day we had a conversation that really got me thinking.  We talked about not judging people, and it is weird because in my studies that has kind of been a theme.  (I’m reading about Christ’s trial in Matt. 27.)  I read in Alma 32 about the humble people who were cast out and who came to Alma wanting to know what to do.  They were judged by their apparel and how poor they were.   However, it was because of that their hearts were opened to the truth.  As a missionary especially I’m learning, and will continue to learn it’s important to talk to everyone, no matter how they look, etc.  It’s not up to me to judge who will or who won’t accept the gospel.  Judging in general is something I’ve been trying to work on.  In Sacrament Meeting yesterday we sang a great hymn, #220.  It says “Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly?”  It really hit me.  I need to be better at looking outside myself, and stop comparing.  The Savior is a perfect judge.  He looks on the heart!  (1 Sam. 16:7)  I need to make sure that I’m doing my part to love and serve everyone no matter what, and don’t judge them.  The Savior is the perfect example of self-less service.  One of my favorite scriptures recently is Matt. 20:25-28.  Part of it says, “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:  Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  I need to be better at constantly looking for ways to serve others and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to work on it on my mission!  I’ve learned so much and it feels so good to help other people!  I have such a strong desire to keep doing so!  The last verse of the hymn I talked about sums up my feelings pretty well :”Savior, may I love my brother as I know thou lovest me, Find in Thee my strength, my beacon, For they servant I would be.  Savior, may I love my brother – Lord, I would follow Thee.”
I’m grateful for mu Savior and for everything I’ve been learning about Him as I read the scriptures!  I’m grateful for the chance I have to serve my brothers and sisters in Maine and the Lord!  I love them so much!  I love you so much too family and I hope you have a wonderful week!!
1 John 3:16-19
Sister Bergeson :)


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