Letters from Kelsey - 32

Hey everyone!

Well another week has come and gone and in the process we have said 'Adios' to July and 'Hola' to August! This week was a little of a tough one which I will tell y'all about in the.... INVESTIGATOR WEEKLY!! ha ha

The Barillas Family: Sad news... Maria broke up with us over text on Saturday... She texted us and told us thanks for everything but they have decided to stay with their current religion (which means Catholic but not going to church). We texted her back (because we can do that now, as of 2 weeks ago) and asked what changed. She said that they have just always been Catholic and its just hard to change. We texted back and asked if we could just come over and talk for like 20 minutes. (because this is one of the easiest doubts to overcome. We compare it to a cake. They have looked at the cake, smelled the cake and even bought the cake, but they really won't know if its good or not unless they eat the cake aka Come to church) She told us that she wasn't feeling well, but we are going to go over another day this weekend to try and get them to church, because church is the key!

Guadalupe: He is so awesome. This weekend he was in Corpus Cristi and we called him yesterday- to make sure that he didn't die in the hurricane/tropical storm down there, and we asked him how his reading has been going and he said good! He took his Book of Mormon and all of the pamphlets we have given him with him on his trip! We have a lesson with him tonight at the church and I'm excited for this month. His baptismal date is the 13th but I'm feeling more of the 20th or the 27th, but he is for sure getting baptized this month!!

Welt... Its a sorry looking addition this week, we have some 'Other' investigators (not progressing) and a couple other people with dates, but I don't really feel like introducing them to the family and friends yet so we will just keep it with Guadalupe for now. It was hard having the Barillas break up with us but we are not going to give up on them. We are going to work hard this week to find new people that the Lord has prepared and I'm trying to raise my faith. I know that the Lord can and does to miracles, I just need to raise my faith that I can be a tool that He accomplishes them through. I have a special experience that I want to share with y'all. It happened yesterday. So we were riding along the side of the bayou (kinda like a lake from the ocean- super gorgeous) contacting people, and there was this mom outside kinda talking to her kids, her name is Annette. I stopped and talked to her and told her about what we share and asked if there was anything we could do for her. Its really interesting to me that we can just say 'How are you' to someone and know whether or not things are going okay, and this is how I felt with her, I could tell it has been a rough day. She was really nice and said she wasn't interested and turned down our offer to help. Before we left I had the thought to tell her that her Heavenly Father loved her, I thought that would sound a little weird and the conversation had kinda already ended so I didn't say it. We had biked about 20 yards down the road and I kept having the thought to tell her that her Heavenly Father loved her, but again I thought it would be weird to go back just to say that. Then I got the thought that I would regret it if I didn't do it. So I told Hna. Wallet that we needed to go back. We went back and Annette was still outside cleaning something up and I said: 'This may sound weird but I feel impressed to tell you that your Heavenly Father loves you and that we are never alone in our afflictions. Through the Atonement Christ knows exactly what we are going through. When he suffered in the Garden he didn't suffer for us as a whole, he saw each of our faces as he suffered for us individually and he will help you carry your burdens if you let him.' When I first said that her Heavenly Father loved her she started crying and at the end I asked if she wanted a hug, even it if was from a stranger, she said yes. She then thanked me because it was exactly what she needed, I then said that it sure wasn't me but that Heavenly Father answered her prayer. For me it was just one of those moments where I am really glad that the Lord trusted me enough to help out someone that is struggling- and it helped raise my faith a little that I am someone that the Lord can answer prayers through; even with all my weaknesses, lack of faith, and through all my sins He finds me someone worthy to help others. It a very sobering and humbling feeling.

Anyway... everything is going well here. We had a day of a tropical storm and it was super fun to be out riding in the rain. The work progresses and it is as hot and humid as ever, but we have a breeze so its all good. One more month of heat to go. Things really are good- the spanish continues to improve, Hna. Wallet and I get along well and we are missionaries on an island in Texas- what could be better? Next week I'll tell y'all a little more about Galveston and the people here. We had a funny guy this week who told us that Mormons have lots of wives (this was after we told him we were missionaries), it wasn't that 'we' as mormons have lots of wives, he said 'Mormons have lots of wives' and we just said 'nope- don't think so'. ha ha The people here are all pretty nice- I have only met one guy who didn't like us but even then he wasn't hostile or anything. Well.. until next week! I hope y'all stay safe and have a fun week and that the Lord continues to bless y'all! Have a blessed day!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg