Sept. 1, 2014 Littleton, New Hampshire

Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel

Hello, hello!!                           Sept. 1, 2014

Happy Labor Day :)  It’s beautiful outside today here in N.H.  I just love all the trees.  It pretty much looks fake sometimes.  I hope you’ve been enjoying the long weekend!  So, all the libraries are closed today for the holiday, hence the handwritten letter.  Hopefully you can read this!  We’ve been super busy this week, which was great, but well, I don’t know where to start. 

The main activities of the week were finding and service.  Monday we spent doing quite a bit of finding and talked to lots of people.  Then Tuesday we did service at the senior center, then helped a member clean the house they just moved out of.  The family, the Petersons, moved into Littleton on Main Street right above Chutters (a candy store with the record for the longest candy counter in the world.  Pretty neat!)  They’re fantastic and I’m glad they are so close to us now.  All the members here are just wonderful :)  We had an awesome Ward activity in Grafton Notch State Park at Echo Lake on Tuesday as well.  It was super pretty!  I was able to meet a lot more members there too.  I love Ward activities!

One of the highlights of the week was definitely Zone interviews.  It was great being able to sit down with President Stoker and talk more about my goals and how I want to accomplish them.  I told him that I’ve really been working on exercising faith and that we’ve been trying to talk with everyone.  It was good, and then later our Zone leaders talked about diligence and the importance of being obedient.  Our mission is still counting how many people we invite to learn about the gospel and Sister Miller and I have gotten pretty fired up about it.  We’ve done quite a lot of street contacting and tracting this week and it has been exhausting, but so fulfilling.  We really have been working hard and we were able to invite 100 people to learn about the gospel! :)  That was a huge improvement compared with what we had got a couple weeks previous.  It really has been fun being able to talk with so many people and see what views they have on religion.  I love missionary work!  It most certainly is work, but we make it fun at the same time.  It reminds me of the hymn we sang yesterday at church.

“Then work and watch and fight and pray

With all your might and zeal

Push every worthy work along

Put your shoulder to the wheel.

Put your shoulder to the wheel push along

Do your duty with a heart full of song

We all have work: let no one shirk,

Put your shoulder to the wheel.”

I love that song!  It makes me happy!  I know that God made it so we had to work so we could learn and grow, and we’ll be rewarded for our good works.  I have such a desire to share the gospel because I’ve seen how it changes people for the better.  I’m going to continue to strive to exercise my faith and declare the gospel and I know the Lord will give me the strength to keep moving forward (D & C 24:12, one of my favorite scriptures now!).

We had a cool miracle this week with the Davis’s.  We went over and helped them clean and when we were on our way, their downstairs neighbor’s friend who we had talked to before asked if she could come over that night.  It is so amazing to see how the Lord works!  So, we were able to have dinner and a lesson with her, and she is just awesome!  She prayed aloud for the first time she ever had, and the spirit was so strong!  And she recognized it as well.  She was just beaming and said she felt so happy.  I loved that.  The gospel is what brings joy, and I’m so glad she was able to notice that :)  Teaching people about the gospel makes me so happy, it is such an honor.

We also made a lot of progress with some members we’ve been teaching as well.  We started meeting with them two weeks ago and they really have a desire to get back to church and be refreshed about the doctrine.  They surprised us yesterday by coming to church, and it was so great to have them there! :)  The ward welcomed them so well too.  So that was great!

So yep, it has been a great, great week and I’m excited to see what the next one brings! :)  I’m so grateful for the chance to put my shoulder to the wheel and push in the beautiful area of New England.  I just love this place!  Love you, love you and have a wonderful week!

“Work will win when wishy-washy wishing won’t” – President Monson

Sister Bergeson  :)