Howdy y'all
So just a little business to get out of the way before we get to the good stuff. This week the Mission Office is moving so that means we have a new address for letters. It is as follows:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Because of this move we didn't get our mail this week, I hope to get it on Wednesday at transfers, so if you wrote me I will write you back next week. It is a little confusing, the old address works until March 23rd and the new address doesn't work until March 25th so if you get mail back that says 'undeliverable' resend it to the new address after the 25th. Sorry about the hassle.
Now on to the good stuff!!
I'm getting transfered this week and my companion is training again. I figured that the Lord decided to transfer me because he knows I would go crazy if I was in Houston for the Final Four (which we all know BYU is going to be a part of) next week and couldn't go watch. (ha ha) I'm excited for the adventures and experiences that await me in my next area. I don't know where I'm going yet- I find that out at transfer meeting on Wednesday. Investigator updates:
Giovanni: You know an investigator is legit when he asks you how to apply in his life the things that he is learning. He came to church again this week and is really starting to get to know people and feel comfortable. His date is April 2nd and I can't think of a better thing than being able to come back to Houston 1 for his baptism on Conference Weekend! He is just so solid and is really starting to change and soften up.
Carina & Jose: So this week we went over to teach Jaime, the less active member that they live with. We thought we were going to just be teaching him but Carina and Jose joined us like it was nothing. ha ha Carina spend the whole time reading and marking the Book of Mormon and she told us how much she enjoys reading it. Their date is April 30th and I am so excited for them. They weren't able to come to church because Jose had to work but I can just see them being amazing members in no time! ha ha
Juan Jose (Pepe): He is a new this week that we met contacting. He is 21 and is here all by himself, family lives in Mexico. He is a plumber, has no phone, his car is broken, and he lives in this cute little one room house in the backyard of some of his friends. We taught him last night and I'm sad that I won't be able to continue with him but he is so humble and sincere. He actually read the pamphlet that we gave him (really rare) and could recall a lot of it pretty good. He said the prayer at the end of our lesson and it was a really good one! His date is April 30th. (I extended him that one so that it was still in the next transfer so that I could get permission to come back when he gets baptized! We can't come to baptisms out of our area if it has been more than one transfer, so I was kinda sneaky, ha ha but I have faith that he will be ready)
Well that is a quick update. Next week I will have new people to tell you about and tell you all about my new area!! The question that Giovanni asked us this week got me thinking- how often in the church do we teach things, such as to youth, and not teach them how to apply it? We teach them to prepare to go on a mission, or even small things like obeying the Word of Wisdom, but we don't teach them what that looks like or how to apply it in their lives. Like with modesty for example, what does keeping the WOW look like? What kind of friends do you have? What do you spend your free time doing? What kind of hobbies do you have? What simple things do you do every day to help you acheive your goal? Just simple questions which help us see the bigger picture and see the small steps on how we can reach our goals and apply what we learn and truely make it a part of us.
Well its going to be 80's all week down here in Texas. I hope that all of you are doing fantastic and that our Heavenly Father continues to bless you all. Please know of my love, admiration, and gratitude for all of you and your continued support and love. Cheer loud for my Cougars for me!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 14
Howdy y'all,
Things are going good down here in Texas. Its actually thundering, lightening, and raining really, really, really hard right now, (no rainstorm like a Texas storm) but it has been pretty nice weather all week- I don't even need a jacket! What am I doing? I have more important things to talk about than the weather!!!! So here is a run down of our investigators right now:
Giovanni: I told y'all a little about him a couple weeks ago but this week he accepted a date!! His date is April 2nd. He is super intelligent and we have to study the scriptures that we give him as homework because he always has very smart and deep questions about them. He has had a hard time in the past when it comes to praying because he is worried about saying something to God that he will regret but this week he prayed for the first time with us, earlier this week, and then said the opening prayer in our lesson yesterday. He has come to church for 3 weeks and Hna. Tuckett and I have already seen a change in him. He is a lot softer now and seems a lot happier. Just to recap, he is in the States investigating his brothers death by a drunk driver in 2001, because the driver never served time. He has a lot of pain in his life and likes to be able to understand everything so that has made his relationship with Heavenly Father a little strained but he is improving and he is already feeling the changes in his life.
Gloria: She is a 24 year old mom of 2. (We thought she was like 30 until we actually asked her this week). She has very little, if any, religious background and that has made us take a step back and be super simple and starting some sort of base. She asked us this week how to know if the Bible is true and when we extended her a baptismal date she didn't know what baptism was. She is improving and has a desire to change her life, and she has come to church for 3 weeks and enjoys Relief Society.
Carina & Jose: They are a new family we met this week that I am super excited about. We met them while visiting a less active member (who has been less active for 9 years since moving here from Guatemala) that we found, Jamie, who lives with them. They see the differences in Jamie's life, especially in the few times recently since we have been coming over, and they want to change for their kids and gain a better relationship with God. They are so cute (call each other baby, something I haven't heard anyone else say yet) and actually married (a very rare thing in Hispanic culture at this point) and have 2 little kids, Emmanuel (3) and Alison (18 months). They like the gospel already because they have been so confused for so long that its nice to hear something that actually makes sense. They always tell us to not stop coming over and they are very eager and willing to learn more. Jose wants to quit drinking and be a better father. Both of them have had a hard and difficult past and want to move away from that. I'm super excited for them to keep progressing.
These are the investigators that I'm most excited for right now. I love all of our 11 investigators but these are the ones that are progressing the most. Its kinda weird at this point because transfers are next week and we have a feeling that Hermana Tuckett will be training again because there are 4 new spanish sisters coming in, which means that I will get moved. The way it works is that we find out on Monday morning if in fact she is training, and then if she is I find out where I'm going at Transfer meeting on Wednesday. So next Monday I will let you all know if I'm staying or going! Things are going well though, this transfer has kinda gone by fast. Our days are really long so I have to make sure and write in my journal every night or else I blend the days together and can't tell one days experiences from the next. I'm going to send pictures home next week so when my Mom gets those she can attach a few in an email and you all can see my awesome tan!! Ha ha, just kidding, but I do hope that you all are enjoying the snow. ;) Spanish is coming along slowly. I am understanding more words and trying to actively listen and write down the words that I can make out so I can learn them. My head hurts by the end of every day from concentrating so hard. Yeah, yeah I know that all of you just thought of some sarcastic comment you would tell me if I was there in person, ha ha. I hope all is going well with all of you and your families. The work of the Lord continues to progress in Houston and He is the one directing it. Thanks again for all your letters, love, and support.
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Things are going good down here in Texas. Its actually thundering, lightening, and raining really, really, really hard right now, (no rainstorm like a Texas storm) but it has been pretty nice weather all week- I don't even need a jacket! What am I doing? I have more important things to talk about than the weather!!!! So here is a run down of our investigators right now:
Giovanni: I told y'all a little about him a couple weeks ago but this week he accepted a date!! His date is April 2nd. He is super intelligent and we have to study the scriptures that we give him as homework because he always has very smart and deep questions about them. He has had a hard time in the past when it comes to praying because he is worried about saying something to God that he will regret but this week he prayed for the first time with us, earlier this week, and then said the opening prayer in our lesson yesterday. He has come to church for 3 weeks and Hna. Tuckett and I have already seen a change in him. He is a lot softer now and seems a lot happier. Just to recap, he is in the States investigating his brothers death by a drunk driver in 2001, because the driver never served time. He has a lot of pain in his life and likes to be able to understand everything so that has made his relationship with Heavenly Father a little strained but he is improving and he is already feeling the changes in his life.
Gloria: She is a 24 year old mom of 2. (We thought she was like 30 until we actually asked her this week). She has very little, if any, religious background and that has made us take a step back and be super simple and starting some sort of base. She asked us this week how to know if the Bible is true and when we extended her a baptismal date she didn't know what baptism was. She is improving and has a desire to change her life, and she has come to church for 3 weeks and enjoys Relief Society.
Carina & Jose: They are a new family we met this week that I am super excited about. We met them while visiting a less active member (who has been less active for 9 years since moving here from Guatemala) that we found, Jamie, who lives with them. They see the differences in Jamie's life, especially in the few times recently since we have been coming over, and they want to change for their kids and gain a better relationship with God. They are so cute (call each other baby, something I haven't heard anyone else say yet) and actually married (a very rare thing in Hispanic culture at this point) and have 2 little kids, Emmanuel (3) and Alison (18 months). They like the gospel already because they have been so confused for so long that its nice to hear something that actually makes sense. They always tell us to not stop coming over and they are very eager and willing to learn more. Jose wants to quit drinking and be a better father. Both of them have had a hard and difficult past and want to move away from that. I'm super excited for them to keep progressing.
These are the investigators that I'm most excited for right now. I love all of our 11 investigators but these are the ones that are progressing the most. Its kinda weird at this point because transfers are next week and we have a feeling that Hermana Tuckett will be training again because there are 4 new spanish sisters coming in, which means that I will get moved. The way it works is that we find out on Monday morning if in fact she is training, and then if she is I find out where I'm going at Transfer meeting on Wednesday. So next Monday I will let you all know if I'm staying or going! Things are going well though, this transfer has kinda gone by fast. Our days are really long so I have to make sure and write in my journal every night or else I blend the days together and can't tell one days experiences from the next. I'm going to send pictures home next week so when my Mom gets those she can attach a few in an email and you all can see my awesome tan!! Ha ha, just kidding, but I do hope that you all are enjoying the snow. ;) Spanish is coming along slowly. I am understanding more words and trying to actively listen and write down the words that I can make out so I can learn them. My head hurts by the end of every day from concentrating so hard. Yeah, yeah I know that all of you just thought of some sarcastic comment you would tell me if I was there in person, ha ha. I hope all is going well with all of you and your families. The work of the Lord continues to progress in Houston and He is the one directing it. Thanks again for all your letters, love, and support.
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Monday, March 7, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 13
Howdy y'all
So tomorrow is my 3 month mark!! It feels like I have been in Texas forever! Everything is going good and we had our first baptism of the transfer yesterday!! His name is Carlos Villatoro and he is from Honduras! He is awesome and has such a strong testimony. It was such an interesting experience last night. I have to be honest I didn't feel anything different until he walked down into the font, and then the Spirit was so strong and it was a feeling that I can't even really describe. It was amazing and it was an experience I will always remember. We had an investigator, Giovanni, come to the baptism and he came to church yesterday for the 2nd time also. He is the one that is really intelligent and is here investigating his brothers death. He really enjoys church and I can see the Spirit, through reading the Book of Mormon and going to church, softening his heart so hopefully he will be open to praying here pretty soon. We taught him the Restoration last week and it all made sense to him and he didn't have any questions. His questions all come from the readings we give him. He is so logical that he has questions about particular verses that we had never even though of before! The Spirit will keep working on him and I know that once he prays he will get all of his answers. He will be baptized before we know it!
So surprise!! You know how I told y'all that my trainer is on her last transfer? Well guess what... that's not true. I found out this week that she was extended before I got here so she has one more transfer. Which changes up my thinking a bit. I was so nervous because thinking that this was her last one meant that there was a pretty good chance that I would have to take over the area. The area is going so good that its very doubtful that they would whitewash the area, that's when they bring in 2 new missionaries. So it was just logical that I would be the one to say, but now with her not going home yet there are of course 3 options! 1- I get transferred. 2- She gets transferred. 3- We both stay. I'm convinced that she will probably stay and train because there is going to be a huge turnover of spanish sisters here really soon and we get 4 new ones this next transfer which is March 23, but we will see what happens and what the Lord has planned! At this point we have 7 investigators with a date, 15 progressing, and we had 10 at church yesterday which was pretty awesome! The work of the Lord is in full force here that is for sure!
I feel impressed to ask a favor of y'all. I'm not quite sure who is all on the email list or who all reads this every week, my mom tells me that people have been added, but I hope you all feel some sort of spiritual uplifting and enlightenment each week. I have thought this week about what I wanted to write about today. I have thought about how I am taking 18 months of my life to come to Texas and help strangers find true happiness in their life and how to fully allow Savior's Atonement to make their life easier, yet there may be people at home that I love and care about and mean so much to me that might not have found this true happiness for themselves yet. So my favor is for all of you to do as the Introduction to the Book of Mormon says and ask God, the Eternal Father, if these things are true. Just read a little bit of the Book of Mormon, my personal favorites are Enos 1:1-8, Ether 12:17, and 3 Nephi 27. Read these, or even just read Joseph Smith's account, and humble yourself to pray to our Heavenly Father to know if these things are true. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive and answer and that you will know of a surety that these thing are true. The second part of the favor is, if you feel comfortable, to write me and tell me of your experience and how you know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. With these experiences I can help my investigators understand what to look for and all the different ways that we can receive our answers through the Holy Ghost.
Anyway... I hope all is going well with all of you!! As I do every week I want to thank you all for your letters, emails, love, and continued support. Spanish is coming along slowly but surely and I know the Lord will continue to bless me. Right now I am in a town called Brazos. Its totally country and I love it! ha ha. We are just spending the day with some other sisters and things are going well. The weather is totally spring weather with it being cool in the mornings and nights, but warmer during the day. May our Heavenly Father's choicest blessings be upon y'all!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
So tomorrow is my 3 month mark!! It feels like I have been in Texas forever! Everything is going good and we had our first baptism of the transfer yesterday!! His name is Carlos Villatoro and he is from Honduras! He is awesome and has such a strong testimony. It was such an interesting experience last night. I have to be honest I didn't feel anything different until he walked down into the font, and then the Spirit was so strong and it was a feeling that I can't even really describe. It was amazing and it was an experience I will always remember. We had an investigator, Giovanni, come to the baptism and he came to church yesterday for the 2nd time also. He is the one that is really intelligent and is here investigating his brothers death. He really enjoys church and I can see the Spirit, through reading the Book of Mormon and going to church, softening his heart so hopefully he will be open to praying here pretty soon. We taught him the Restoration last week and it all made sense to him and he didn't have any questions. His questions all come from the readings we give him. He is so logical that he has questions about particular verses that we had never even though of before! The Spirit will keep working on him and I know that once he prays he will get all of his answers. He will be baptized before we know it!
So surprise!! You know how I told y'all that my trainer is on her last transfer? Well guess what... that's not true. I found out this week that she was extended before I got here so she has one more transfer. Which changes up my thinking a bit. I was so nervous because thinking that this was her last one meant that there was a pretty good chance that I would have to take over the area. The area is going so good that its very doubtful that they would whitewash the area, that's when they bring in 2 new missionaries. So it was just logical that I would be the one to say, but now with her not going home yet there are of course 3 options! 1- I get transferred. 2- She gets transferred. 3- We both stay. I'm convinced that she will probably stay and train because there is going to be a huge turnover of spanish sisters here really soon and we get 4 new ones this next transfer which is March 23, but we will see what happens and what the Lord has planned! At this point we have 7 investigators with a date, 15 progressing, and we had 10 at church yesterday which was pretty awesome! The work of the Lord is in full force here that is for sure!
I feel impressed to ask a favor of y'all. I'm not quite sure who is all on the email list or who all reads this every week, my mom tells me that people have been added, but I hope you all feel some sort of spiritual uplifting and enlightenment each week. I have thought this week about what I wanted to write about today. I have thought about how I am taking 18 months of my life to come to Texas and help strangers find true happiness in their life and how to fully allow Savior's Atonement to make their life easier, yet there may be people at home that I love and care about and mean so much to me that might not have found this true happiness for themselves yet. So my favor is for all of you to do as the Introduction to the Book of Mormon says and ask God, the Eternal Father, if these things are true. Just read a little bit of the Book of Mormon, my personal favorites are Enos 1:1-8, Ether 12:17, and 3 Nephi 27. Read these, or even just read Joseph Smith's account, and humble yourself to pray to our Heavenly Father to know if these things are true. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive and answer and that you will know of a surety that these thing are true. The second part of the favor is, if you feel comfortable, to write me and tell me of your experience and how you know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. With these experiences I can help my investigators understand what to look for and all the different ways that we can receive our answers through the Holy Ghost.
Anyway... I hope all is going well with all of you!! As I do every week I want to thank you all for your letters, emails, love, and continued support. Spanish is coming along slowly but surely and I know the Lord will continue to bless me. Right now I am in a town called Brazos. Its totally country and I love it! ha ha. We are just spending the day with some other sisters and things are going well. The weather is totally spring weather with it being cool in the mornings and nights, but warmer during the day. May our Heavenly Father's choicest blessings be upon y'all!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
