Monday, August 25, 2014
Aug. 25, 2014 Lyndon, Vermont
Lord,
I Believe
Hey, hey!!
Aug. 25. 2014
Happy going back to school week! Hope it is going well for
everyone! :) It has been so great here, but packed. There are tons of
tourists coming through for their last summer hurrah's. I can't get over
how pretty it is here. I really need to be better at taking
pictures! Also, the weather has also been super nice. It hasn't
gotten as hot as it was last summer by a long shot! The nights get pretty
cool and the leaves on the trees are already starting to change a little bit,
nuts! Warning: this day has been super hectic, and this may be pretty
jumbled...
So, pretty much this week has been busy, busy! I've
loved getting to know the people here, they are fantastic. I feel like
I've been here forever already! Smooth transitions are always nice.
Sister Miller and I are a bit crazy together...but it makes life more
interesting :) We've had quite a few adventures already. Our phone got
working again, which was great! We were able to see a bunch of people
this past week, too! We have some pretty amazing people that we're
working with, and I've loved teaching them! We've been doing so much
finding and street contacting. This has been the first area where there
have been lots of people everywhere, so it has really been great getting to
meet lots of new people. Not too many stop to talk to us, but once in a
while we get a good contact :) We've also done quite a lot of tracting,
and I don't know what it is, but I always, always, without fail choose the
extremely hilly roads. Yep. We definitely get our exercise here!
But well, we also get fed a lot more than other areas I've been in so I've got
to be careful! We were able to do a bunch of stuff with members this
week. We spent the whole day with a girl in the ward who is putting her
mission papers in, and it was a blast!! Her name is Whitney, she just
moved into the ward a month or so ago, and she is just fantastic! :) We
were also able to do a lot of service for the Davis family who moved in a month
ago as well. We helped them unpack and organize, which they were really
grateful for. All sorts of people moving to New England! :) It's
pretty great! Our ward is definitely in a great place for awesome missionary
work to take place. The members are quite focused on the work, and they
do so much to help us! We have a sister who is waiting for her mission
call to come, which will be super exciting!! She is the Young Women's
President and just so amazing!! Also, one family just had their son
return from his mission in Portugal last week. He spoke in church on
Sunday, which was pretty funny. He was really struggling with his English
:) We taught Relief Society on Sunday too, which went super good!
It was really fun, and I learned a lot from Elder Uchtdorf's talk about not
sleeping through the Restoration. As far as our investigators, Stephen
came to church!! Also, Kim who I met for the first time is really wanting
to come to church as well and we got a ride all set up for her and everything
after she goes through some knee surgery she has to get done.
Alright, so I feel like that was the most unorganized thing
ever. I really want to get to what I've been studying about though!
This week we have Zone Interviews and our mission president asked us to study
the Christ-like attributes and prayerfully choose one to work on. I've
been praying and thinking and studying about if for a while and it was really
amazing to see how everything has been pointing to one attribute. First,
what I did was think of the opposites of all the attributes and see if there
was one I was struggling with the most, and well. It was pretty obvious
to me that I struggle most with fear. So, faith has been the topic of
choice. I know that I've done so much better overcoming my fears while
I've been serving as a missionary, but I know that I still have a long way to
go. It has been cool how my studies have lined up perfectly with faith
each day, and I feel like I've learned a lot already. I'm reading about
the Brother of Jared in Ether right now in the Book of Mormon and in the New
Testament I'm in Mark 9. The story in Mark really struck me and I've been
pondering it quite a bit. It is of the man who has a son who has a dumb
spirit and comes to Christ to have Him heal the boy. At first the man is
uncertain that Jesus can heal him, but Jesus says, "If thou canst believe,
all things are possible to him that believeth." I love the man's
reply, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." After that, Jesus
healed his son. What an amazing story! I love how Christ was able to help
him grow his faith by having the man proclaim his belief. I know that
when I bear my testimony and share it with others, I'm proclaiming my belief to
Christ and through Him, miracles happen! So why is it so easy to have
fear? I know that the more I trust in the Lord, the more He'll strengthen
me and help me through as long as I'm doing all I can. I'm going to
strive to talk with as many people as I can about the gospel regardless of the
fears I may have, and I believe that the Lord will lead me to those He is
preparing in His time. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and what I've
been able to learn from them, and I'm grateful to have this time to be a missionary
and grow my faith!!
Have a super fantastic week! Love you so much!!
The future is as bright as your
faith! -Pres. Monson
Sister
Bergeson :)
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Pictures Aug. 18, 2014
Aug. 19, 2014 Lyndon, Vermont
I'll
Go Where You Want Me to Go
Family!!!! Aug. 18, 2014
I'll get right down to it...this week has been a crazy
one. Real crazy. Packing up and getting everything out of the
Oxford apartment was an adventure, but I did it! Hooray! So, Monday
was pretty much spent saying goodbye to everyone. I just love the Oxford
ward and everyone in my area that I was able to teach :) They are just
wonderful! It was sad leaving, especially knowing that I'd be going to
transfer meeting in Manchester, NH. We woke up at 3:20 am Tuesday morning
and I said my goodbye's to Oxford, Sister Banda, and also Maine. I really
hoped I'd get transferred back into that wonderful state, but at the same time,
I kind of felt that I wouldn't. Transfer meeting was amazing! We
had a lot of new sisters come in and learned that we're getting a whole lot of
other new sisters in next transfer. I love everything that President
Stoker talked to us about, too. He talked a lot about service and
charity. It was a great reminder to treat people as they out to be and help
them be who they can possibly become. He also talked about how the Lord
is hastening His work, and that we need to be in a hurry! Time is so important
and I know that I've definitely learned that it is important to use it wisely,
even though I'm still not always so good with it. I also saw a bunch of
wonderful people there! There are some pretty sweet missionaries serving
here in New England :) Anyways, so after the missionaries who were
leaving shared their golden truths they learned on their missions and Sister
and President Stoker talked to us, it was time to announce transfers. But
wait, we had to sing the song I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go first.
AHH!! I was shaking I was so nervous. Maine is my home, I didn't want to
leave, and I just didnt' know what to think. They announced all the
missionaries in Maine first and my name wasn't called. I was bummed, but
then the hymn we sang went through my mind again. A new adventure awaited
me somewhere else. It is all about how I choose to see the change. It
seemed like forever, but eventually, I heard my name and found out where I'd be
going.....
LYNDON, VERMONT!!!!! With a twist..but I'll get to
that later. My new companion is Sister Miller, who I'm sure is officially
the shortest sister in the mission. Anyways, we've got along really well
so far, which has been great :) We've already had a lot of crazy
experiences together. So, the twist is this. I get the best of both
worlds! The church building we go to is in Vermont, BUT we are actually living
in Littleton, NH!! :) The ward boundaries cross the states :) How
crazy! So, I was apprehensive about going to my new area at first, but
here is the thing. This place is amazing! Littleton is the cutest
town I've ever seen, and the scenery is even a bit more beautiful than
it is in Maine, but in a different way. I didn't even think that that
would be possible. The White Mountain Region is gorgeous!!! I pray
that I'll be able to be here for the fall! I can't even imagine what it
will look like. Also, this ward is fantastic!! I love it so much
already! The people are so welcoming and loving. The first day I
was here a member lent me her violin, crazy! Also, I've been fed so much
this past week and church was just great! I'm so excited to be here! :)
:) :) I think a big change is what I needed even though I didn't really
want it. We have been doing some great contacting here, it is super
touristy, but the people we've talked to who live here have been pretty nice.
Also, Bethlehem is in our area. I thought that was pretty great :) From
Bethel to Bethlehem! Yep, it's great here! Love it.
So, the craziness happened when our phone decided to be
weird, so we decided to fix it which made everything worse. It hasn't
been working for a couple of days now. It is so weird not having a phone
as a missionary. I don't know how anyone ever did it. Luckily the
nice lady upstairs has let us use her phone sometimes. We'll see when
we'll get another one. Hopefully sooner than later!
Also, an amazing miracle happened at a member meal!
This super awesome couple the Davis's moved into the ward a month or so ago,
and they had us over for dinner and invited their neighbor in the apartment
below them. They had met briefly, and decided that they wanted to get to
know her better so she was there along with her friend. They're 20 and 21
years old, and totally awesome! It was great to get talking with
them. They didn't say much about our name tags or anything until the one who
lives below the Davis's, Monica, said that while she was living in Arizona she
and her family joined the Mormon church. WhAt? It was pretty
crazy! She doesn't remember too much about the church because she was
really little, but she was willing to talk to us about it. The Davis's
told about their lives and conversions and that was awesome and brought the
spirit really strong, which helped the girls open up and Monica's friend said
that she has been trying to find a church to go to for a while now and she
really wants religion in her life. They have both had really hard lives, but it
was great to see the hope they had when we were leaving. It was
incredible to see God's plan unfold that night. It was a miracle, and
strengthened my testimony of God's love for His children.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary! I can't even wrap
my head around how many great people I've met and how many faith promoting
experience I've had. I know that this church is true, no matter where I
go. God truly does have a plan. Everything happens for a reason,
and I know that I need to be here right now! I love it.
I'll do Thy will with a heart
sincere, I'll be what you want me to be!
Sister
Bergeson :)
Monday, August 11, 2014
Aug. 11, 2014 Bethel, Maine
Bye
Beautiful Bethel! Aug.11, 2014
So, there it is. The results
of transfer calls.
I pretty much knew that it was
coming, but still, I'm going to miss this area, my wonderful daughter,
Sister Banda, and especially the ward, so much! I've been able
to see so many miracles here and I feel like I've grown so much. I hardly
know what else to say. I'm just so glad that I was able to serve
here for so long, I'll definitely miss it.
Sister Banda and I had a good
last week together here, which was great. Ah, I am going to miss that
sister! I've just learned so much from her and I'm so grateful for the
chance I've had to be with her. She is so focused and hard
working. We've both grown a lot. It has been an honor to train, it
really has. So, this week, we focused a lot on finding, and we tracted
and tracted most of the week. Mostly up big hills. Needless to say,
my legs feel way stronger, but also kinda dead. We had a good time
singing hymns along the way though! :) Especially "Today While the
Sun Shines!!" So, we found some good potentials, but no one that was
too interested in learning more, yet. We had an awesome experience with
this one guy who let us share a quick message from the Restoration
pamphlet. When we got to the Book of Mormon he perked up and said that he
had a story to tell us about that book. We didn't really know what to
expect, but I never would of guessed the experience he had with the Book of
Mormon. So, a while ago he worked on a construction crew and they were tearing
a house down in Lovell, ME. Lovell is teeny tiny and in the middle of
nowhere. As they were working someone found a book in-between the walls
of the building. It was a brown Book of Mormon. They opened it up
and saw that it's serial number was...2. Indeed. The second copy of
the Book of Mormon ever printed somehow made it's way into the walls of a
building in the middle of nowhere, Maine. He said that they contacted the
church and handed it over to them. Pretty sweet!! It was great
being able to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon he could keep, and he said
that he was really interested to read it. Coincidence? I think not!
Something new our mission president
is doing is having us keep track of the people that we invite to learn the
gospel. It has really changed my perspective of missionary work and
motivated me to work hard. Tracting was never really my favorite because
for me it got pretty easy to get discouraged. However, now that we've
been keeping track of these invitations, I have a different view of what I do
everyday. It's not so much about whether or not others accept the
invitation, it is more about whether or not I give it. And when an
invitation is given, I feel successful. I've definitely been able to see
how much more rewarding the work is when I think about it this way! I
just need to apply this principle to like, everything in life. As long as
I do my part the best I can, that is success! I cannot judge my
success based on other people and their agency. Pretty great!
So, another great thing that
happened this week was being able to have dinner in Andover with the McLarens,
Sister McLaren's mom and our investigator Michael. It was pretty much the
best thing ever. I love all of them so much!! It has been great working
with them, and now seeing the support that they are for each other, it is
fantastic!! We talked about scripture study with all of them, and Michael
bore a sweet testimony of how the scriptures have changed his life. It
was so powerful. I was also able to bear my testimony, and I know that
doing so strengthened my love for the scriptures. I know that they are
true! I love them so much, and I've learned so much from them. I'm
grateful for everything they teach me about my Savior and how I can get back to
Him. What an incredible gift!
Church was great, great,
great! It was really hard saying goodbye to the members though. I
really feel like they're family. They have done so much for me, and I'm
just grateful for everything I've been able to experience with them!
Getting to know the people here has probably been one of my favorite parts
about serving a mission! I love Maine. The people in it, the
scenery, just everything. Love it. I would live here in a heartbeat!
I'm so grateful that I've been able to spend the past 14 months here and learn
from these incredible Mainers!! And honestly, my heart is
practically breaking even thinking about leaving this state. But, I know
that no matter where I go, it will be where Heavenly Father needs me most, and
where I need to go to grow more. It is sad, but at the same time I am
excited to experience this change. I know that it will definitely help me rely
more on the Savior and increase my faith. I'm going to get there and
leave everything I've got there. A new adventure is waiting to be
had!!
Love you, love you family!!
Have a super awesome week!
Work with a will! (Hymn 229)
Sister Bergeson :)
(Jessica finds out tomorrow where she will be going next.)
Monday, August 4, 2014
Aug. 4, 2014 Bethel, Maine
When
One Door Closes, Another Door Opens!
Dear family, August 4, 2014
I hope that you had a wonderful week! So glad to hear
you had a good time with Emanuelle and Danny, I hope you told them hi for
me! I bet you had a blast! :) So, we went to Wal-Mart today
(hooray!) and holy smokes! Back to School supplies were everywhere.
Not allowed. It's not that time already is it?
Speaking of time, I really don't have very long on the
computer today. So, this week has been kind of not as normal.
Again, we had church in the primary room and it was only one hour. Kinda
crazy, we have no idea when we'll be allowed to use the chapel again.
Also, we got to help a member paint, which was a blast! Good memories
flooded back of helping mom paint our rooms :) We did lots of finding,
and didn't have a super lot of success, but we planted seeds. Our
teaching pool is kinda shrinking, we had two investigators we'd been teaching
for awhile move to Massachusetts, which was sad, they're super awesome.
But Michael is doing good, still working on smoking, but he'll get there!
The highlight of the week was probably our work with
less-active members. We were able to see quite a few, and find some new
people. So, with Rumford it has kind of been crazy. It is almost
official that it will now be in the Auburn Ward. So, we've had more miles
and been able to go to more places. It has been pretty fun
exploring! In particular we've been able to do good work in Andover, a
super teeny town way up north. But, miracles are happening there!
We had our less-active couple, the McLaren's, move up there recently, and so
we've been able to see them more than we thought we would. Also, we found
a less-active member there that hadn't been contacted in years and years, but
who has been getting the ensign and watching conference and everything!
He's way nice and super open to letting us come over :) Then, yesterday
was a huge less-active day! Sister Ripley drove us around to see people
for a couple hours than we headed to Bethel for a five hour adventure with
Sister Lilly all around Andover and Rumford :) It was awesome!
Kinda sad because it was our last time going to Rumford (we said goodbye to all
the less-actives there and told them they were going to be apart of the Auburn
Ward), but our adventures in Andover were sweet!! :) We met a new move in
from California who had been looking for the nearest church and had no clue
where to go, so it was great to find her!! The members we know in Andover
have more than doubled in the past couple weeks :) So, even though
it was kinda stressful with everything happening in Rumford/Mexico and our area
is much smaller, we've been able to see miracles. It has been so cool to
see the transition in this area, and it will be much different now.
Heavenly Father's plan and timing are so perfect, and although we won't be
seeing people in Rumford anymore, we have others we get to focus on! :)
Also, another miracle was that we were able to get in with
Adan! We gave him a present for his birthday, and he got a ride to church
the next day. It was great to see him there, and he even bore his
testimony in Sacrament Meeting! :)
Overall, it has been so great to serve in this area for so
long and see so many things change, good and bad. I feel like this ward
is home, the members and everyone else are just so awesome!! We had a picnic
this week and I just felt so much love for everyone there. It's crazy though
because the time has come and transfer calls are coming up this Saturday...
The odds aren't really in my favor. I'll just have to wait and see what
happens..
Alright, so something that I've seen this week and well
throughout life really, is that change isn't that easy for me. It is just
more stress than I'd like to have to deal with. However, I came across
this really awesome quote that has just really changed my perspective.
"One's life cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free. Therefore,
how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, 'Lord,
give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not
betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those
experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell
with Thee and fully share Thy joy!' Real faith is required to endure this
necessary but painful developmental process." Well said, Elder Maxwell,
well said. I know that no matter what happens, everything will work out alright
if I'll just have faith! It might take a bit, but new doors will open
when others close :)
Love you so much family! Have a great week!!
1 Nephi 3:7
Sister
Bergeson :)
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