May 26, 2014 Bethel, Maine

The Start of a New Adventure

Family!!                                    May 26, 2014

Hey hey!  So, I hope that you’ve all had a super fantastic Memorial Day weekend! :)  Thanks for the letters.  I got them on Saturday and I loved hearing about how things are going!  Sounds like the trip to NYC was great, and holy cow, I can’t believe school is almost over!  Crazy!  Summer is just around the corner.  But I sure am enjoying spring!  I can’t believe how green it is here!  The new leaves are beautiful and the flowers are growing.  It’s great.  I just love it! :)  I’ve really got to prepare myself for the bugs though.  I’m determined not to have as many bites as I did last year!

Alright, so I’ll get right to transfers!  After we got sister May’s stuff all packed up and she said her goodbyes, we got home and conked out up in our loft which was a blast!  Then woke up at 3:30 am to get ready for a super long day.  I needed to go to transfer meeting to get my new missionary, but we needed to drive to Augusta first to drop off Sister May to meet her new companion and go to her new area, then we picked up 2 other sisters and drove to Salo, Maine where we dropped off then picked up another.  After all that we finally made it to Manchester, New Hampshire!   Hooray!  And… I met my new companion, Sister Banda!  Fresh out of the MTC :)  She is from Moses Lake, Washington and really nice!  I’m really grateful that I get the opportunity to train her.  It will most certainly be a growing experience!  Yep!  After the meeting we drove a sister back to Augusta then finally arrived back in Bethel, which made it 10 hours in the car.  Sister Lilly was the best to take us all that way!

Training isn’t really what I expected, not like I even knew what to expect.  It’s been weird having to explain so many aspects of missionary life that have become super normal to me.  Also, teaching has been much different, but I’m so grateful for how hard Sister Banda’s working and her desire to be the best missionary she can be!  It is going to be great! :)

This week went by so fast!  It’s all a blur!  We had a bunch of member meals which was definitely a highlight!  I just love them so much because it really helps us get to know the ward members better!  I just love the Oxford Ward so much!  We were also able to teach quite a few lessons!  Great practice for Sister Banda and I :)  A highlight this week was definitely Michael.  He has been doing so much better!  I’ve loved seeing his growth, and he was telling us all about how he knows he’s not alone and that God loves him, no matter what.  It’s such a miracle!  He also called and told us he found the Bible videos online and he loves them!  Another awesome thing was that Jess went to the temple!  (to do baptisms) She said she felt the Spirit really strong and absolutely loved it :)  I’m so happy for her!

Something that has helped me this week is a quote Sister Wallentine shared with me when I was being trained, “Don’t be afraid to make choices  because you are afraid to make mistakes” – Elder Carl B. Cook.  I feel like I’ve had to make so many decisions this past week!  It has definitely been more stressful, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot already.  I know I can’t do this alone, and I need to rely on my Heavenly Father to help me along.  He’ll help me when I make righteous decisions and when I have good intent.  I’ve just got to make the first step and act!  This will be quite the adventure!  I’m looking forward to the ride! :)

Well, I hope you have a fantastic week!  I love you so much!!

Sister Bergeson :)

Pictures May 19, 2014

 The sign  --

May 19, 2014 Bethel, Maine

Be Thou and Example

Family Dearest!                             May 19, 2014

Hey hey!! I hope that you have had a super fantastic week!!  Crazy that it is almost summer!  Really!  It still doesn't seem like it all the time here, but we're getting there! This week has been pretty busy for us here, and it totally just flew by, as usual.  Where to even start..  Well, we did a whole bunch of service this week, which was great!  Everyone was trying to get their yard work done in the nice weather we were having.  We helped with gardens and stuff which was really nice.  It is great to be able to enjoy being outside now! :)  The bugs are starting to come though, so lets hope that I don't get eaten alive as much as I did last summer!!  We also ran into this lady from the Methodist Church in town and she talked to us a bit and was impressed that we asked if they needed any service done or anything and she was really happy we agreed to rake the leaves there.  She asked us a lot of questions about what we do as missionaries while we raked and she was amazed at what we do.  It was great to be able to tell her about what we believe not only by our words, but mainly our actions.  Service is just so awesome! 

We were also able to teach a lot of lessons with members present even though our teaching pool is shrinking a bit.  It is great hear members share their testimonies and teach the gospel!  It especially helped when we taught Katy this week.  She is doing really well and having Sister Lilly there helped a bunch!  It has been awesome to see Katy piece together the truths that she knows and make sense of how they come together so simply.  My testimony of teaching plainly and simply has increased so much!  That is exactly what she has needed, even though she has studied religion so much.  Michael is doing much better, and he has really enjoyed reading Alma, which has been great!  He really has such a strong desire to become closer to God, and he has been such a great example of picking yourself up when you fall.  I just love our investigators and the less actives that we teach so much!! It has been a slow process with most of them, but they are making steps in the right direction little by little.  Also, awesome news!  Jessica got her temple recommend yesterday and she is going on the youth temple trip to do baptisms for the dead on Saturday!! :)  She is way excited and we're just so happy for her!!!

So, this week I was thinking a lot about what to say in the talk that I had to give in church.  The topic was "how did the Savior's influence in my life help me decide to go on a mission" or something along those lines.  It was great to really reflect on that the past couple weeks!! There really have been so many ways that the Savior has influenced me in my life!  It took a bit to decide what to focus on, but well, it came :)  I talked all about how the people in my life who reflected Christ helped me learn about Him, encouraged me to find Him for myself, and then my desire to share it and be examples to other people.  Prayer, scripture study, service, and so on have all be crucial in developing my relationship with Christ, but I wouldn't have known any of that if someone didn't teach me.  So, pretty much, I talked about you mom and dad!! :)  I talked about how grateful I am for what I've learned from you :)  For the examples that you are to me :)  I also talked about how I've also been influenced by extended family (going into family history a bit there too and learning from their examples as well), my ward family, and others :)   Also, I love the talk, "A Priceless Heritage of Hope" that President Eyring gave too and used some parts of it.  I'm so glad that I can take these things that I've learned and help others as well, and they in turn can be examples to there family and friends, etc.  It was such a great opportunity to give that talk.  I know that preparing it helped me strengthen my testimony a lot.  Being examples is such an important part of the gospel!  Just like it says in the scriptures in Matthew 5:14-15 and 1 Timothy 4:12 which I just love :)  I'm so so grateful for the wonderful examples I've had in my life cause they have really shaped who I am today! :)

Alright so now, last but not least....I totally forgot to mention that transfers were coming up last week, and now they have come and gone.  It was pretty crazy because they switched the calls to Friday super unexpectedly and then all of a sudden we got a call, at 8:01 no less (super super early in my experience).  First, to preface, Sister May and I were both kind of thinking that I was going to leave.  I've been here in this wonderful area for three transfers and I do feel super comfortable here and just love it.  I took my picture by the coolest sign ever, which was great because the first day I got here I said that I wouldn't leave until I saw it.  Things were really just wrapping up nicely.  So, when President told us that Sister May was getting transferred we were both super shocked!  We were hoping that we'd maybe be able to stay together, but that isn't what needed to happen I guess.  I've just learned so much from Sister May and I'm sad that we won't get to be companions any more :(  We've grown so much as we've served together, and teaching with her has been incredible!!  It just flows when the spirit it there and it is really fun!!  It's just been so great :)  But now I guess it is just time for me to be stretched in different ways.  President told me that I'm going to stay and train a new missionary here in Oxford!  Um.....WHAT??  I still don't even know exactly how I feel about all of this.  I'm excited, nervous, happy, shocked, and well, it is super hard not to feel way inadequate, but it is what the Lord knows that I need right now.  I know that it will be a huge learning and growing experience and I'm already feeling pretty humbled, so we'll see where this adventure takes me and my new sister :)  I hope and pray that I'll be able to be a good example to her and help her come closer to Christ!

I hope that you have a wonderful week!! :)  I love you soooooooo much and again am just so grateful for the impact you have all made in my life. Hooray for being examples of Christ! :)

Let your light so shine!

Sister Bergeson :)

Pictures Bethel Maine May 12, 2014

Jessica's baptism

Bethel Maine May 12, 2014

Expect Miracles!

Hey Hey Family!! :)                            May 12, 2014

It was just the greatest thing ever to be able to talk to all of you yesterday!! :)  Loved it so, so, sooooo much!  Ahh, yep!  You're just the best!  So, even though I did just talk with you, I still want to fill you in a tad bit more about this amazing and crazy week!  First of all, it is totally BEAUTIFUL outside!!  The grass is super green and the trees are finally starting to get their leaves!  It's been a wait, but it has totally been worth it! :)  Hooray for spring!  

So, this week went by fast, but slow at the same time.  Just a lot of things went on.  We were able to do a lot of service this week and saw great things come of it!  We cleaned a basement, moved a couch, swept up sand off a driveway (one of my new least favorite chores...), and volunteered at the library.  It was great to be able to help so many people, and hearts were really softened by it.  I love being able to help others, even when it is something that really isn't my favorite thing to do, their gratitude makes it way rewarding!  

We had a zone meeting this week which was just fantastic!  We have extremely dedicated zone leaders and they always have such great goals for us.  They talked to us a lot about miracles.  Having the faith to see miracles, acting in faith, and then expecting them to come.  It was great to be able to focus on, and it really made me reflect on my mission so far.  I've been so blessed to be able to see a lot of miracles happen in the past almost year, and they come at the time I need them.  Miracles big and small happen everyday and it is great to look back and see how the hand of the Lord was there.  In this mission every night we write down in our planners a miracle that we saw that day, and it has made me a lot more aware of them.  Our zone goal is to pray every morning to see miracles throughout the day.  It has been amazing as we've done it and really paid attention to the events of the day because well, there are just so many miracles!! :)  We've been able to meet a lot of new nice people and our investigator Katy is doing really well, and Sheny came to the baptism and church, and it has just been very neat!  It kind of felt like I lost appreciation or just didn't really pay attention to the small miracles that happen throughout the day, and it has been a breath of fresh air looking forward seeing them every day!  

So, the baptism!  The double baptism didn't work out as planned due to some word of wisdom issues, but Jessica was baptized on Saturday and everything went so well!  She was super excited and her dad and her dad's girlfriend even came to support her!  It was awesome!  The youth are super supportive of her and so are her leaders.  The program ran smoothly and the super last minute musical number we threw together worked out great, thankfully!  It has been such a blessing to be able to play the violin so much on my mission!! :)  Overall, things went great!  On Sunday she was confirmed and her dad came to that as well!  However, things got kinda crazy from then on out.  During Sunday School she went outside with her cousin who is a member and not super good example and were goofing off on a hill when she fell and did something to her neck or back.  She ended up getting taken to the hospital in an ambulance.  It was pretty scary, but we've heard that everything is alright.  Hopefully she's learned her lesson and won't ever skip part of church again! That was just quite the experience!  

Alright, well I hope that you all have a super fantastic week!! :)  Love you so, so much!!!

There can be miracles when you believe!! 

Sister Bergeson :)

May 5, 2014 Bethel, Maine

Drop by Drop

Hey family!! :)                            May 5, 2014

I hope that this past week treated you well!!  I can't believe that it is Monday again!  It really just goes by so fast.  Crazy!  Congratulations on finishing your fist semester of college, Amy and Erin!! :)  Can't hardly believe it!  Now off to New York!  You will love it so much!!  The east is where it's at!! :)  Most definitely!  Also, I just have to say that I'm SO excited to Skype you on Mother's Day! :) 

This week has been pretty great!  I've learned a lot and felt so uplifted!  It has had it's ups and downs, but overall, fantastic!! We've really been able to do lots of stuff with members and strengthen our relationship with them.  I love this ward so much, it really feels like coming home every Sunday.  They are super open and friendly and it is so great to see how they fellowship anyone and everyone who walks in the doors.  They rely so much on each other and they sincerely care and love everyone.  They aren't perfect by any means, but no one is!  They just do the best they can :)  I just love the members here!!

On Monday we had a lesson with Arleen.  We took Brother Hathaway, and it was amazing!  Brother Hathaway is the sweetest Mainer 80 year old man on the planet!  He just loves the missionaries, especially sisters!  He takes us out to eat a lot and then goes teaching with us!  I've learned so much from him!  Usually when we take him to lessons he is super quiet though, which is just kind of how he is.  But it was amazing because that isn't how he was with Arleen!  We taught tithing and he bore such powerful testimony of how the law of tithing has strengthened and blessed him.  What a great way to bring the spirit and ease Arleen's uneasiness.  She has been going through a lot lately and it has been hard for her to maintain the habit of not smoking, sadly.  The devil works hard to stop any good that is happening, I've seen it time and time again.  But, I know that with God we can overcome anything Satan throws in our path!  And Arleen knows that too!  It is amazing to hear her prayers, she has so much faith! :)  She is such a great example to me, and we were so grateful Brother Hathaway came with us!!

On Tuesday and Saturday we pretty much spent the whole day with Sister Lilly.  She sacrifices so much to be able to help us.  She came to two lessons with us and fed us dinner on Tuesday, which was totally amazing!  And she also drove us and our investigator Andrea to Women's Conference (like 2 hours away) even though she was super stressed getting everything together and needing to meditate a bit because she taught one of the classes for it.  She is just awesome!  She did an amazing job at Women's Conference and the whole thing was exactly what Andrea needed!  Andrea is different than anyone that I've ever met before.  I really don't know how to explain her.  Nope, really, I don't.  The gospel is exactly what she needs, and it was great to hear her describe how the conference touched her.  It really touched me as well.  I'll get into that later though..

Wednesday was our Sister Smith day!  I sure do love that lady!!  She came with us to Michael's lesson, which was great, then we did her visiting teaching with her after she fed us lunch :)  Then, she drove us down to Oxford for Jessica's lesson before Young Women's.  It was so great to have her there for her lesson, it was totally the best one that we've ever had with her.  Jessica is pretty awesome! :)  And....exciting news!!!!!  She is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!!!  We are so happy for her! :)  She is so strong!  She doesn't really have a lot of family support, but the Young Women here are awesome and have fellowshipped her so well, along with her leaders!  It has been great to see! :)  It certainly has been an adventure teaching her, and we've had to change her date quite a few times, but things are working out so we're just going to see where this week takes us!  The elders are also having a baptism on Saturday which will be neat!  This little ward is growing pretty fast! :)  It is such a comfort to know that our recent converts will be well taken care of by the ward :) 

Thursday and Sunday were our Sister Ripley days.  She has so much energy!!!  And she absolutely loves helping us out! :) (She is the one we got in a crash with a while back...but we've been pretty safe with her since!)  We go around to less actives and members and drop in to see how they are doing, and it is always a blast! :)  We were able to meet some pretty awesome less actives this week with her, which was great!!  We also had dinner with another couple in our ward and they invited their friend and her son as well!! :)  It was great to be able to talk with them about the gospel!  It is such a blessing to see the work moving forward more and more here in this area!! :)  One more thing about Sunday... Adan was ordained a Priest!! :)  It was so amazing!!  He has been so diligent at getting a ride from S. Lilly to church when his aunt and uncle don't come (sad news, his uncle kinda dropped us...they cancelled every appointment we tried to set up with them though, so we knew that it might be coming, just very sad though.  He'll come around, but he's just going to need a bit more time.  Good thing that Adan is such a solid example though!!!!!).  He is also a huge example to the youth in the ward. It is great to see how well he's doing!  He is reading a lot in the scriptures and you can just tell on his face, he is happy!!

I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately!  Our purpose here on earth is to have joy (2 Ne 2:25), and the way that we do that is following the example of the Savior :)  I LOVE the scripture in Mosiah 2:41 and I think that it pretty much sums up the week.  It says, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness."   It has just been so great being able to serve a mission, and it has brought me so much joy!  But it's not a walk in the park, that is for sure!  None of life is.  The holding out faithful thing is the key!  Not easy, but possible because of Jesus Christ!! :)  Women's conference was amazing and it was great to hear from such strong women and the stake president.  They talked about the little things adding up, and that was just what I needed to hear.  This is certainly a planting seeds mission, and I totally love it!!  It definitely takes patience though because well, trees don't grow overnight.  But, little by little growth happens, and when it does it brings so much happiness! :)  I've been thinking a lot about how to apply this to me.  I'm definitely planting seeds in myself, and drop by drop I'm nourishing them.  They aren't growing as fast as I'd like sometimes, but well, they are growing.  And the more I see the growth the happier I am!! :)  The gospel sure is great!!  Because, well, it's true!! :)  And it makes me even happier when I share it with others!!

Love you love you family!!!  Have a great week and I'll talk to you on Mothers Day!!!!!!!

Be Happy!

Sister Bergeson :)