Pictures Oct. 27, 2014

 District P Day Halloween Party

Oct. 27, 2014 Littleton, New Hampshire

Highs and Lows

Family Dearest!                                                Oct. 27, 2014 Hello, hello!!  I hope that you've all had a super fantastic week!!  I feel pretty scattered today, so I'm really hoping whatever I happen to write about makes sense!  It has been an interesting week, and I'm not sure where to start.  Just going by so fast, really.  Well, last P-day was a total blast!  We met at the church with our district and had a costume party!  We carved pumpkins and had a marshmallow war :)  Pretty exciting!  I learned that it is certainly a skill to shoot those things out of PVC pipes... some of the elders got them going really fast.  District P-days are great, it really helps to unwind a bit and just have a good time!  Sister Maxwell and I had absolutely no clue what our costumes were going to be, so we kept putting it off, and before we went we headed to to the dollar store and picked up some horns... I wore my BYU shirt, she wore her institute shirt with our jeans and cardigans, and we went as... Mormons.  We thought we were pretty smart :)   The next couple of days were alright, but at the same time, it just felt like we got into this routine and we were just floating along, pretty much just going through the motions.  Not a good feeling!  Not bad, but just..off.  Definitely reaffirmed the fact that attitude is everything!  There was a highlight during those off days though.  We got to eat dinner with the new Pakistani family that moved in!! :)  We told them that we just like mild spice, and when we got there they said they didn't use too much spice so we thought we'd be pretty well off.  Well, it still ended up being the spiciest meal I've ever had.  New Englanders are boiled potatoes and cabbage kind of people, so I haven't had any spicy food in forever.  I pretty much sweat my way through that meal...  It was exciting though!  They are the coolest family!  They all (even their kids who are like 6 and 4) speak four languages!  Their dog understands them all as well... awesome!  It was kind of hard to communicate with them, but they are just super sweet!  Great experience!   Thursday we had a complete turn around, we've been going, going, going!  We got to teach a lot of members, and quite a few of them have had pretty tragic things happen.  A member we've been teaching's son, who told us a few weeks ago he wants to learn and get baptized was put in jail for robbery.  That was kind of shocking news!  Another lady we see every week just had two deaths in her family.  Even though it is hard to hear about, I'm grateful for the chance I have to be a missionary and support and strengthen people through their challenges.  We were able to have some other great lessons this week as well!  I've really seen how important the Book of Mormon's role is in conversion.  We've been focusing on reading it a lot in lessons and the spirit that it brings is incredible!  I love being able to teach the gospel, and I love being able to teach with Sister Maxwell, she is wonderful!!  She always has such powerful insights, and I'll never cease to learn from her :)  I'm so glad we're companions!   Saturday was a blast!!  Everything fell through for us, so it was a day of complete finding, which was totally fine with us because there was a GIANT festival for Halloween all day in Littleton!!  I haven't seen that many people in quite a while!  It was downright crazy, especially at night.  I'm not used to crowds AT ALL!!  They had trick or treating going on during the day on Main St. and had a big pumpkin lighting ceremony, as well as a zombie walk.  There were so many people dressed in costume walking around.  The river was absolutely gorgeous.  They put pumpkins everywhere as well as on the bridge, and it was quite the sight.  Didn't take pictures though because we didn't want to look like tourists... I guess I'll just have to go back and see it again! :)  Well, yep, we did a lot of talking to people that day, and it was exhausting, but very motivating!  We invited 55 people to learn about the gospel!! :)  It was awesome!!  Not a day I'll soon forget! Yesterday was great as well! Sister Mann gave a great 'farewell' talk, which was bittersweet, I love that lady!  We also got to go to choir rehearsal!  We've been practicing the Christmas songs we're going to sing for the Festival of Choirs.  It is a super awesome thing they do in the ward, and I'm way excited!! :)  I just love Christmas music!! So, with the weird ups and downs of the week it pretty much reminded me of my whole mission.  It has all been quite the roller coaster ride!  Reminded me of a poem my trainer gave to me at the very beginning... Highs-N-Lows A mission is a strange experience. It's a trial and a test. A mission throws you at the worst yet teaches you the best. They told em this would be the best period of my life.  But I guess they didn't explain it all too clear. I came out looking for a bed of roses. I just wasn't expecting all the thorns I've found out here. Since I've been out I've never been so happy. I've never been so depressed. I've never felt so forsaken. I've never felt so blessed. I've never been so confused. My mind has never been so clear. I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant. I've never felt him so near. I've never been so discouraged. I've never been so full of hope. I fell like I can go forever. I think I've come to the end of my rope. I've never had it so easy. I've never had it so tough. Things have never gone so smoothly. Things have never been so rough I've never travleed through more valleys. I've never ascended so many peaks. I've never met so many neat people I've never met so many freaks. I've never had so many ups. I've never had so many downs. I've never worn so many smiles. I've never worn so many frowns. I've never been so lonely. I've never had so many friends. Man, I hope this is all over with soon. Gosh, I hope it never ends. Jack L. Brinkerhoff I love this poem.  It expresses so well the feelings I've had as I've been out.  I'm so grateful for everything that I've experienced, good and bad.  I know that all added up, I've never grown so much in my life!  I've found gratitude to be the key.  It is like President Uchtdorf's talk he gave last April.  We had our Relief Society lesson on that, and it was great!  We also used the talk in a visit with some members that are really struggling right now, and the story of Nephi being tied up on the ship came to mind.  He is such a great example to me!  1 Nephi 18:15-16 tells the story of his swollen and sore wrists and ankles as well as his reaction to being unloosed by his brothers. He said, "I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions."  He is such a powerful example of being grateful no matter the circumstance!  I know that as I've looked at the big perspective, I'm just so grateful I have the chance to be a missionary right here and right now!!  I'm grateful for the miracles I've seen and will continue to see as I keep striving to serve with my whole soul!  What an amazing blessing!! Well, I hope that you have a great week and a Happy Halloween!! :) "Grateful in Any Circumstances" (Elder Uchtdorf) Sister Bergeson :)

Pictures Oct. 20, 2014

 Loving the leaves in New England!!

Oct. 20, 2014 Littleton, New Hampshire

A Blessing and a Curse Hey there family!! :)                         Oct. 20. 2014 I hope that this week was totally great, especially with mom and Lizzie's birthday's and all!!  Exciting!  We've been keeping busy here, and doing well! :)  I can't believe it is Monday again, though.  Weird.  This past week was kind of a blur, but good!  First off, the weather has been throwing me off big time.  It really can't decide whether or not it wants to be warm or cold.  Tuesday and Wednesday were like, the nicest days ever, after a cold week we got sunny, 70 degree temps :)  However, it was short lived.  It rained rained rained all weekend, and woke up on Sunday to like 28 degree weather and some snowflakes/hail.  Just kind of everywhere!  Anyways, so something that I just want to make sure that I say is... I love training :)  It has been such a blessing to be able to train Sister Maxwell, especially because she reminds me so much of myself when I first came out.  It has been great being able to help her and encourage her, and I've already learned so much from her.  She's grown so much already, and it just makes me so happy to be able to see her strive to reach her full potential!  Granted, we've been through some harder things together, but it really has helped us learn and grow together :)  I'm so grateful for companions! We had a pretty fun week! :)  We went to see a member who has the most Halloween decorations of anyone I've ever seen in my life, hopefully we can get over and get some pictures with all of her mannequins!  We tracted for a couple of hours in a total downpour and got super soaked!  A member made us pumpkin cheesecake for dinner (totally reminded me of the cheesecake you make mom, delicious)!  And we had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday, which was really good!!  Bishop Davies came and they were both incredible meetings! :)  The spirit was so strong, and I learned a lot from the great leaders and members of this stake.  Something crazy about this ward is that the members here are two hours away from the stake center.  It takes a lot of dedication to make it out to the meetings!  Also, fun fact, our stake includes members from three different states- Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York! :)  What has been cool is that there has been a huge theme we've seen throughout this entire week. Agency.  Almost every lesson or talk with members or people that we meet finding has been about agency.  The stake president talked about agency in stake conference.  We've also been studying a lot about it, and it has just been amazing.  It all started with a lesson we had with Hansel.  He has a lot of questions and is a lover of logic and psychology.  It seems like every time we meet with him, he gets really deep thought processes and it is kind of hard for me to keep up.  He talked about his reasoning for there not being a God and how he could care less what happens after this life, and overall we just had the feeling like he was purposefully trying to trip us up or something.  It seems like he is pretty set in what he believes. It was interesting and kind of saddening.  We talked about the lesson afterwards, and we had so much that we felt like we could have told him, but ultimately, he wasn't choosing to listen so we couldn't.  I've definitely found that it can be frustrating at times that we have agency.  A common phrase I've heard over and over from people here in New England is that they are 'all set'.  Sometimes I just want to make them see the truth of the gospel and greater happiness is right in front of them!  But that isn't God's plan.  He loves us so much he has given us the freedom to choose for ourselves.  Ultimately, God has said, "they are their own judges" (Alma 41:7).  I've gained an increased testimony of agency as I've been a missionary.  I choose everyday what kind of missionary I want to be, and receive the consequences of my decision, good or bad.  I've seen as I choose to use my agency to follow God and His plan, I've been blessed, and it makes me happy.  It is like the scripture in D&C 58:27-28 which I love, it talks about 'being anxiously engaged in a good cause...and inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.'  What a blessing to be able to choose God, and not be forced.  However, I know that it can also be a curse for me if I choose not to follow God and keep His commandments, like it talks about in an awesome scripture we discovered this week in Deuteronomy 11:26-28.  My goal is to focus on using the gift of agency to be a blessing in my life.  I'm grateful that I can be a missionary and invite others to come unto Christ and allow them to use their agency!  I'm grateful for my agency as well!  I'm grateful for God's perfect plan and my ability to choose whether or not I want to dwell with Him forever in eternity :)   Well family, make it a great week!! :)  I love you so much!!! Choose ye this day whom ye will serve (Joshua 24:15) Sister Bergeson :)

Pictures Oct. 13, 2014

Sometimes we go tracting and totally get lost....

Sometimes there are obstacles in the way...

Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever come out of New England alive...

We totally made it through, though!!  We are the champions!! :)

Mormon helping hands service with Red Cross

Mini-Mission with Whitney