Letters from Kelsey - 21

Well hello there!

First of all I hope y'all had a fantastic weekend and that y'all were super nice to all of the women in your life!! I want to thank you all for being such a great example to me and such a strong force for good and a bright ray of light in this darkening world. Happy belated Mother's Day!!

Well last week was transfers and I am in the same area but now we are a bike area which means no car... we ride bikes all day... in the hot, humid weather... all day... everywhere...(except for P-day)... ha ha. I'm just playin' its not that bad, it is really hot and hard sometimes when we have to figure out what to do with an extra 30 min if someone isn't there for their appointment and our next appointment is in the same area so we can't really go anywhere. So my new companion is Hermana Julia Ruplinger from Orem. She is only a transfer older than I am so we are pretty green still and not a lot of Spanish understanding between us which might get a little rough. We get along really well though and we will be using our sense of humor a lot this transfer to go crazy and take ourselves too seriously. This week was kinda hard though because when we had weekly planning on Thursday I had the whole weight of the transfer on my shoulders. We are at a rough time in the area where we don't have a lot of progressing or really a lot of appointments so I had the weight of all that and having to take over the area. I will be honest and I have never been so close to calling President Saylin and throwing in the towel as I was on Thursday- that was really a rough day, but just like everything that day and feelings passed and I have been blessed to not feel that anymore and have a more 'eternal perspective' for this transfer. For two greenie missionaries who are trying to learn a new language and want to do their best it has been a difficult week, but we will work hard and be obedient and have hope and trust in the Lord that everything that's supposed to happen will and will that trust this transfer will be what its supposed to be.

Now on to a very short Investigator Weekly:

Paula: We had a lesson this week and she is still struggling a little with coffee but she hasn't bought anymore and is trying to find things to replace it. Her date is for this weekend but I'm not sure if she will get baptized this weekend or next. We went over the interview questions on Saturday and she hesitated on a couple things that we need to go over, and when we asked her if she was ready to be baptized this weekend she hesitated a little too.We told her to pray and ask Heavenly Father if He thinks she is ready to get baptized so we will see what she says when we stop by tonight. Hopefully it will be a good email next week with her getting baptized but I have a feeling that next Saturday is her day. She is solid though and is trying really hard to give up coffee, which she will and then she will enter into the waters of baptism before the month is out.

Francis: She has been taught everything but hasn't come to church lately. I think we might give her a break for a couple weeks and then try again to see if she keeps reading without us pushing her and see if her desire to change is stronger in a couple weeks. I don't know, we are gonna pray about it and see what to do next because I'm at a lost.

That's it for the Investigator Weekly this week... kinda short I know... we will try and work on it and hopefully we will have more next week. I decided that I don't like taking over an area and that this might be a trying transfer but I know we can do it. As my Dad said last night when I talked to them (yes Dad I do listen to you ;) ) "Sometimes you need to be thrown in the deep end to learn how to swim". We will just rely on the Lord and put our trust in Him that He knows what He was doing with two green missionaries together. I hope this email finds you all well and that you all know that I have a testimony and that even though there are some really hard days on the mission and sometimes I wonder why I put myself through these struggles I am getting better everyday and I know that its through the tough times that we learn the most. I am learning to be patient with myself and accepting my inadequacies and hopefully letting the Lord mold me into the person He wants me to be. I love you all and thank you all for your continued love, support, and letters! May the Lord continue to bless you and your families!

Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478