Letters from Kelsey - 29

Howdy y'all,

Well I hope y'all had a fantastic 4th of July! We had a tender mercy and were able to see the fireworks from our balcony and they just happened to be through the only hole in the trees, so we did get to see some Galveston fireworks (which, I learned yesterday, are called cohetes in Spanish). We spent most of the day in the apartment doing weekly planning and then we pretty much just rode our bikes around for about 4 hours looking for people to talk to, we did have one lesson that I will tell y'all about later. There was nobody out on in the streets though, they were all either at the beach or in their backyards having parties so yeah... we biked like 15 miles yesterday but I did add more sun to my tan! ha ha Galveston is good though we are working hard to find new people that we know the Lord has prepared. Well now on to Investigator Weekly!!

Emma: She didn't come to church this week but she is accepting the lessons and is reading what we give her, but she hasn't prayed yet. That is our next big step is to get her to pray and as God if the things we are teaching are correct and if she needs to be baptized. I feel like she might know that the church is true but is a little afraid of what answer she is going to receive, so I'll let y'all know how that works out next week hopefully.

Leonel: He is just so awesome and has come to church for a month straight! He is still on track for his baptismal date of July 16th and we are super excited! He is becoming buddies will all of the guys in the branch and he doesn't have any hold ups! I really don't know what else to say about him except that he is just super great and I'm excited to see continue! I have truly gained a testimony about how important going to church is and how important it is to go looking for something so that we can receive revelation through church every week, because I think that was the key to Leonel. Ever since he came to church the first time he has been solid ever since.

David: Oh David... we aren't really sure what to do with him. He keeps the commandments, reads, changes the things he needs to, he just won't accept a baptismal date and hasn't come to church the last 3 weeks. We looked over the teaching record this week and learned that he hasn't accepted a date since the beginning which was back in January. We might have to give him an ultimatum this week when we go by because he still says that he is afraid of falling and not being able to do the things that the Lord tells him too- which also means he hasn't prayed yet about whether or not he needs to be baptized because he knows the answer he is going to get. I know that he knows the church is true and he knows he needs to be baptized, he just needs to know it and have faith that there always is a way and that God doesn't give us commandments we can't follow. We just don't know... we are going to make a strong push for him to come to church this weekend too. I will let y'all know how it goes.

Juan Ramero: He is a new guy that we first taught on Saturday, he came to church on Sunday, and then we taught him again last night. He has been to a lot of different churches and hasn't found what he's looking for yet. He really enjoyed church and I hope that he will read and pray like we have asked him to do. We haven't had a chance to extend him a baptismal date yet because he kinda likes to get side tracked. He lives with this older lady, we have decided that they are just friends and that he just rents a room from her and helps out around the house and watch out for her, but she likes to talk a lot too and has talked to missionaries before and likes to put in her two cents but the good thing is she isn't against the church. Fact of the matter is they both like to talk and sometimes makes comments that are just so random and off topic that it's hard for us to keep the Spirit there enough to be able to extend the date at the end of the lesson but we will keep working on it. I feel like he could be pretty solid though.

Things are going good here though! We keep trying to work hard and find new people to teach. We are trying to improve our faith and our obedience so that we can be qualified to receive the blessings the Lord has in store for us. I have learned a lot these last couple weeks and I have learned something about happiness. I have learned that knowing that you would make the same choices and not change things is happiness. I would not change my decision to go on a mission and I would make the same decision over again. I didn't want to go before my mission and even for a little bit while I was out here, but I have finally become happy with my decision and I wouldn't change it. I'm thankful for all the lessons I have learned and for all the experiences I have had in these short 7 months, and I'm excited for the next 11!

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers! I hope y'all have a good week and that the Lord continues to bless you and your families!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg