Hey everyone!
The Gladys Knight firesides were amazing- it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was fun and just a party in the chapel... ha ha. So here is a little bit about what the show is like. So when they start they sing a couple songs- and these aren't hymns. They sing more of the praise/ R&B gospel songs, they do sing a little hymns but not like we do in sacrament meeting ha ha. So they start out singing a couple songs and then there is guy that gives an introduction to the church and tries to dispel some rumors. Then they sing some more and then Sister Knight bears her testimony and tells of her journey of learning about the church and eventually getting baptized. She then sings a song and that is the end. It lasts about 2 hours and for some of the songs there were people that were standing up and clapping along. We clapped after each song and it was really weird at first but- we went Friday night, and in our show there was also Elder David Evans of the 70, Elder Stephen B Allen of the Utah Area 70 (also very high in the missionary department) and Elder Gifford Nielsen of our Area 70- we were seated in the first row behind the benches and I would look over at them and see them clapping so I figured it was okay. It was amazing though- it really was a party.
There were so many people and we collected almost 2000 referral cards from the 4 day/ 9 show event. We were super lucky to get to help 'usher' at the events. We talked to people all before the shows to try and get the non-members to fill out a card to receive a package. It was a really fun time and it was great to just be in the middle of it all. It was fun to talk to people and see why they came and to get to know their background. There were 10 companionships who were the missionaries helping out and we got hardly any sleep all weekend because we didn't leave the church until like 11:00 almost every night but it was great and we all kinda bonded, us and our fearless Mission President who was with us through it all. He gave us our pep-talks so that we were able to reach our goals and break records. It was something that will definitely be a highlight of the mission.
Well that was my weekend- now on to the Investigator Weekly!
Sandra: well sadly she kinda dropped us this weekend. She had her inactive member husband tell us that she didn't really want to listen any more- we will try again in a few weeks.
La Familia Rodriguez: we are also sad about them but for another reason- they moved to Alabama on last Friday. They were super awesome but I know that everything is in the hands of the Lord and maybe they were there for those 3 weeks just so that we could find them and introduce them to the Gospel and the Book of Mormon and now they will continue their journey in Alabama.
Sonia: So we didn't extend her a date to be baptized this last weekend- we just didn't feel good about it, but she did accept a date for October 15 and Mauricio received the Priesthood on Sunday so that will be another great think that he will be able to baptize her. I'm really excited to see her progress.
Ena: She went to the Relief Society Broadcast and she has hope, we just gotta do a little more tweaking, but I'm excited to see her progress.
Well that was our week- it was super busy and fun and crazy. I'm a little short on time but I hope y'all have a great Conference weekend!! Oh yeah! Guadalupe was baptized on Sunday!!! I couldn't find a member to take us down so I couldn't go but thats not the important thing- I was sad but super excited for him. Anyway- I hope the good Lord continues to bless y'all. Thanks so much for your love, prayers, and support.
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 39
Hey everyone!
Well this week was a really good week but it seems to be just a blur. I don't think that age has anything to do with memory because I'm only 22 and I can't remember what happened yesterday... like ever... and I can hardly even remembered what happened this morning! Okay well thats a little but of an exaggeration but thats only because we had training on what to do with the Gladys Knight referral cards that we are going to get this weekend. We are going to a show on Friday night and I am super stoked- it will be simply amazing and I'm excited for our investigators that are going. Well now on to the Investigator Weekly!!
Anna- well we figured out that it is spelled Ena, go figure, anyway: She came to church this week and to the activity (I'll talk about that in a minute) and she seemed to enjoy both. She had a date for this weekend but she isn't ready. She has finally prayed about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon but she says she hasn't got an answer yet- we are going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with her this weekend and invite her to the Relief Society broadcast so hopefully those will give her the answers she is looking for.
La Familia Rodriguez: They are pretty awesome. They read the chapter we gave them and then started at the beginning all by themselves! We are going to see them today and I'm excited to see them progress. Our next hurdle is getting them to come to church- they go to a local catholic church but hopefully we can get them to come to the Relief Society broadcast this weekend and to Conference next weekend. The daughter, Ana, is coming to Gladys Knight with us this weekend and I think she will really enjoy it.
Sonia: She is was taught at the beginning of the year but she was going through a divorce so they gave her a break but she has still came to church and we were able to teach her last week after months of not being able to go over. She told is that she was thinking about getting baptized in February and we were like... no... how about October? haha We went over with one of her really good friends who was baptized in August and he bore a really strong testimony of the blessings that come from being baptized. We have a lesson with her tomorrow and are actually going to go fasting and praying to see whether we should ask her to be baptized this weekend- we will see how it goes.
Sandra: She has been taught off and on for a while also and her husband is a very less active member. She doesn't like the women in her church and thinks that all the church wants is the tithing money. They came to the activity and seemed to really enjoy it so we are hoping to see her progress and start building relationships with the sisters in the branch.
Well thats it for this week. The branch activity was just amazing. It was a dinner and dance in celebration for Mexico's independence day. There were about 200 people that came- we started out with 9 tables with 8 chairs each and ended with about 15 tables of 8 chairs each and the people kept coming all night. There was so much food and it was just ridiculous. The members didn't leave until like 1 o'clock in the morning and the party started at 7. It was the biggest party I have ever seen... I am still in awe.
Anyway... enough about the party. Things are going good and we have some great investigators that I am really excited about. Its weird to think that we are already in week 3 of the transfer and that I have less time in front of me that behind me- its just crazy the way things work out. The Lord continues to bless us in the work. It's still hot and we actually got a little rain this weekend, but they are doing a huge fast this weekend (a lot of the churches in Houston, which works well for us :) ) for rain so hopefully we get more. Well I hope the Lord continues to bless y'all! Love y'all and miss y'all! Thanks for everything!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Well this week was a really good week but it seems to be just a blur. I don't think that age has anything to do with memory because I'm only 22 and I can't remember what happened yesterday... like ever... and I can hardly even remembered what happened this morning! Okay well thats a little but of an exaggeration but thats only because we had training on what to do with the Gladys Knight referral cards that we are going to get this weekend. We are going to a show on Friday night and I am super stoked- it will be simply amazing and I'm excited for our investigators that are going. Well now on to the Investigator Weekly!!
Anna- well we figured out that it is spelled Ena, go figure, anyway: She came to church this week and to the activity (I'll talk about that in a minute) and she seemed to enjoy both. She had a date for this weekend but she isn't ready. She has finally prayed about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon but she says she hasn't got an answer yet- we are going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with her this weekend and invite her to the Relief Society broadcast so hopefully those will give her the answers she is looking for.
La Familia Rodriguez: They are pretty awesome. They read the chapter we gave them and then started at the beginning all by themselves! We are going to see them today and I'm excited to see them progress. Our next hurdle is getting them to come to church- they go to a local catholic church but hopefully we can get them to come to the Relief Society broadcast this weekend and to Conference next weekend. The daughter, Ana, is coming to Gladys Knight with us this weekend and I think she will really enjoy it.
Sonia: She is was taught at the beginning of the year but she was going through a divorce so they gave her a break but she has still came to church and we were able to teach her last week after months of not being able to go over. She told is that she was thinking about getting baptized in February and we were like... no... how about October? haha We went over with one of her really good friends who was baptized in August and he bore a really strong testimony of the blessings that come from being baptized. We have a lesson with her tomorrow and are actually going to go fasting and praying to see whether we should ask her to be baptized this weekend- we will see how it goes.
Sandra: She has been taught off and on for a while also and her husband is a very less active member. She doesn't like the women in her church and thinks that all the church wants is the tithing money. They came to the activity and seemed to really enjoy it so we are hoping to see her progress and start building relationships with the sisters in the branch.
Well thats it for this week. The branch activity was just amazing. It was a dinner and dance in celebration for Mexico's independence day. There were about 200 people that came- we started out with 9 tables with 8 chairs each and ended with about 15 tables of 8 chairs each and the people kept coming all night. There was so much food and it was just ridiculous. The members didn't leave until like 1 o'clock in the morning and the party started at 7. It was the biggest party I have ever seen... I am still in awe.
Anyway... enough about the party. Things are going good and we have some great investigators that I am really excited about. Its weird to think that we are already in week 3 of the transfer and that I have less time in front of me that behind me- its just crazy the way things work out. The Lord continues to bless us in the work. It's still hot and we actually got a little rain this weekend, but they are doing a huge fast this weekend (a lot of the churches in Houston, which works well for us :) ) for rain so hopefully we get more. Well I hope the Lord continues to bless y'all! Love y'all and miss y'all! Thanks for everything!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 38
Hey everyone!
Ladies and gentlemen, it is official, I am in Texas. I know what y'all are thinking, "But Kelsey, you have been in Texas for 9 months. What do you mean you are officially in Texas?" I have been transferred to the COUNTRY!! Well as country as Sisters get in our mission right now. I am now serving in Pearland and Manvel, Texas. It is amazing and I love it. I smelt hay this week for the first time in 9 months and I thought I had died and gone back to heaven (aka Heber :) ). Pearland is more subdivisions and nice neighborhoods, whereas Manvel is horses, fields, longhorns, cows, goats, double wides, and gravel roads. This week we were biking along a gravel road and we saw about a 2 year old calf tied to a tree in front of a trailer... so what did we do? Stopped and took pictures! We took pictures with it and we pet it! It is just great. My companion is Hermana Jessica Moser and she has been out for 6 months almost and we get along great. This area is great and so is the branch- the branch here is a little bit bigger than the one in Galveston and the people are great here as well. I'm super excited for this transfer. Now on to the Investigator Weekly- MANVEL EDITION!!
Anna: She is about 40 and is from Panama and has a date for September 24. We taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and she is not excited about giving up coffee. She works as Starbucks and loves her lattes. We then discovered that she hasn't prayed to know if the things we are teaching her is true and that she has a fear to pray about it- I'm guessing its because she thinks they are true and doesn't want to do what she needs to to follow it. We took her to an investigator fireside on Sunday which was perfect for her to hear and we are hoping she has a little change of heart when we teach her this afternoon. She is awesome and knows that what we are teaching is good- she just has to experiment on the words and have the courage to change. I have faith she will get there.
la Familia Rodriguez: They are a new family we met this week and yesterday we had a lesson with the mom and her 15 year old daughter. They soaked it in and said that if there was a prophet on the earth today it would be a huge blessing and they would follow him. We gave them Book of Mormons and we are excited to see where they go. We invited them to the ward party this weekend and I am praying they come so that they can get some interaction with the members.
I'm short on time so I will just talk about them today- but I have some other exciting news!! So I don't know how many of you have heard of Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices choir. I hadn't so its okay if you haven't- but you can google it. Anyway- they are amazing and they are coming to Houston next weekend and are going to do 9 shows here in Houston. It has been a huge focus for our mission the last month or so to get members to invite there nonmember friends to go and to hear the music and to hear Gladys Knight and her husband bear their testimony. It is for the 3 missions (Houston, Houston South, and Houston East) and it is for investigators and we are promised that we will get tons of new people to teach from these firesides. Anyway- we found out today that the Mission saved 60 tickets for each show for missionaries to bring investigators and Hna. Moser and I jumped at the opportunity and we are going to take a member and her 15 year old non member daughter. The member is a recent convert as of April and the daughter was dressed in white but then backed out- she is one that we are focusing on this transfer and we are super excited for her go to and feel the Spirit. As soon as I heard we could bring people I thought of her and that this could be what finally gets her to commit. I'm stoked.
Well... I think thats about all I have to say for today- I can't believe that Conference is just around the corner again and that I am on the downhill. The work continues to go forward and I couldn't have picked anywhere better to start the last half of my mission that the area of Pearland and Manvel. Oh! and our apartment is awesome and our complex has a really nice gym- I lifted weights for the first time in 9 months and I was sore before I finished... ha ha but that's what I will need because we don't ride bikes as much here because it is all spread out. Well I hope that everything is going well with y'all and the the good Lord continues to bless you and your families. I know the church is true and that the Lord watches out for us all. Could y'all do me a favor and cheer louder for my Cougs? Thanks! ha ha As always I thank y'all for your love, support, prayers, and letters.
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Ladies and gentlemen, it is official, I am in Texas. I know what y'all are thinking, "But Kelsey, you have been in Texas for 9 months. What do you mean you are officially in Texas?" I have been transferred to the COUNTRY!! Well as country as Sisters get in our mission right now. I am now serving in Pearland and Manvel, Texas. It is amazing and I love it. I smelt hay this week for the first time in 9 months and I thought I had died and gone back to heaven (aka Heber :) ). Pearland is more subdivisions and nice neighborhoods, whereas Manvel is horses, fields, longhorns, cows, goats, double wides, and gravel roads. This week we were biking along a gravel road and we saw about a 2 year old calf tied to a tree in front of a trailer... so what did we do? Stopped and took pictures! We took pictures with it and we pet it! It is just great. My companion is Hermana Jessica Moser and she has been out for 6 months almost and we get along great. This area is great and so is the branch- the branch here is a little bit bigger than the one in Galveston and the people are great here as well. I'm super excited for this transfer. Now on to the Investigator Weekly- MANVEL EDITION!!
Anna: She is about 40 and is from Panama and has a date for September 24. We taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and she is not excited about giving up coffee. She works as Starbucks and loves her lattes. We then discovered that she hasn't prayed to know if the things we are teaching her is true and that she has a fear to pray about it- I'm guessing its because she thinks they are true and doesn't want to do what she needs to to follow it. We took her to an investigator fireside on Sunday which was perfect for her to hear and we are hoping she has a little change of heart when we teach her this afternoon. She is awesome and knows that what we are teaching is good- she just has to experiment on the words and have the courage to change. I have faith she will get there.
la Familia Rodriguez: They are a new family we met this week and yesterday we had a lesson with the mom and her 15 year old daughter. They soaked it in and said that if there was a prophet on the earth today it would be a huge blessing and they would follow him. We gave them Book of Mormons and we are excited to see where they go. We invited them to the ward party this weekend and I am praying they come so that they can get some interaction with the members.
I'm short on time so I will just talk about them today- but I have some other exciting news!! So I don't know how many of you have heard of Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices choir. I hadn't so its okay if you haven't- but you can google it. Anyway- they are amazing and they are coming to Houston next weekend and are going to do 9 shows here in Houston. It has been a huge focus for our mission the last month or so to get members to invite there nonmember friends to go and to hear the music and to hear Gladys Knight and her husband bear their testimony. It is for the 3 missions (Houston, Houston South, and Houston East) and it is for investigators and we are promised that we will get tons of new people to teach from these firesides. Anyway- we found out today that the Mission saved 60 tickets for each show for missionaries to bring investigators and Hna. Moser and I jumped at the opportunity and we are going to take a member and her 15 year old non member daughter. The member is a recent convert as of April and the daughter was dressed in white but then backed out- she is one that we are focusing on this transfer and we are super excited for her go to and feel the Spirit. As soon as I heard we could bring people I thought of her and that this could be what finally gets her to commit. I'm stoked.
Well... I think thats about all I have to say for today- I can't believe that Conference is just around the corner again and that I am on the downhill. The work continues to go forward and I couldn't have picked anywhere better to start the last half of my mission that the area of Pearland and Manvel. Oh! and our apartment is awesome and our complex has a really nice gym- I lifted weights for the first time in 9 months and I was sore before I finished... ha ha but that's what I will need because we don't ride bikes as much here because it is all spread out. Well I hope that everything is going well with y'all and the the good Lord continues to bless you and your families. I know the church is true and that the Lord watches out for us all. Could y'all do me a favor and cheer louder for my Cougs? Thanks! ha ha As always I thank y'all for your love, support, prayers, and letters.
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 37
Just a reminder, Kelsey loves getting mail from people! Her address doesn't change with transfers, but I'll post it again anyways.
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
So write Kelsey a letter... you know you want to :)
Hey everyone!
Well... we got transfer calls... and yup... I'm gone. I was surprised because Hna. Wallet has been here for 4 transfers and it's her first area but she is training this transfer! President felt really strongly that she is the one that needs to train the new sister... so off I go to area #4! ha ha I'm super sad to be leaving Galveston... especially because the weather is perfect now- I love fall, but I'm also sad because I love the people here, I love the Branch, I love the island and it really is a fantastic place. I feel like this area is where I really started to love being a missionary- I have always loved talking to people and teaching them about the Gospel, but now I love all of the day to day stuff too. That's not to say that I still don't get a little frustrated, but its more of a sadness now when they don't accept the message. The Lord knows more than I do though so I'm excited to see where I go next- I don't think I'm quite ready to go back to Houston yet but we will see what the Lord has in mind.
This week was kinda slow because Hna. Wallet was sick for most of the weekend, and I was bored out of my mind. There isn't a whole lot you can do as a missionary when you stay in the apartment so I was going crazy- but its all good now :). It was super windy this last week also... like really windy... like we could hardly bike windy because of the storm that passed by- it didn't rain a lot but the wind brought some cooler weather so that was good. We had a Spanish Training on Wednesday for all the Spanish missionaries and President Saylin challenged us all to a 7 day English fast!!! So since Wednesday at 3:30 I have pretty much only spoken Spanish. We speak English during planning and companion study and to those that don't know Spanish, but other than that its all Spanish... It has been a little difficult but not as hard as I thought it would be. I have a lot to improve on though. Well I don't think I will do an Investigator Weekly this week because not much has changed from last week! Nidia, Erick and Daniela are still awesome and I just love them! I can't wait until her husband and daughter are baptized in October so that in October 2012 we can go to the temple with them as they get sealed!! It will be awesome.
Well Mom asked me to share a little bit more about Elder Holland so here is a little bit more: It was amazing to sit 10 feet away from him and just see him praying the whole time to know what to say to us. He talked about how his mission meant everything to him and that everything good that ever happened after was a direct result from his decision to serve. He talked about how God loves us for who we are. He also talked about how missionaries are neck and neck with President Monson with being the most prayed for people in the whole world. He told us that we have the name of every missionary, past, present, and future, on our backs and that we hold their reputation in our hands. He talked about how obedience is the first law of everything we do in life. He talked about why missions are so hard. "Why is it so hard? Because salvation is not a cheap experience." "Real salvation, real conversion, real repentance, real faith, real commitment is not cheap." "It has always been hard. How was it for the Savior? How can you expect it to be easy for you when it was never easy for Him?" "You've got to walk where he walked. The road to salvation always goes through Gethsemane. You can't 'get it' if you don't go there.' "You can't do it without Him, and the ironic thing is He can't do it without you." The last line he told us is my absolute favorite- "Embrace this forever and never ever, ever, ever, walk away."
It truly was a live changing experience. He plead with us to never leave the Church- he always wonders how people can go out for 18 months- 2 years studying this, testifying and telling people they know this is true and yet leave the Church when they get home. To see an Apostle of God tell us of his pain and anguish over this was truly a humbling experience. I can say with out a shadow of a doubt that he is an Apostle of God and the he has all of authority of Jesus Christ.
I know that the true church of Christ has again been restored to the earth and that we truly have prophets and apostles again on the earth that receive revelation for us, and if we follow it we will one day return to our Father in Heaven and we will be able to live as families forever! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the foundation of the Church and of everything that I know to be true.
Well I hope all is going well with y'all and that you had a fantastic and safe Labor Day weekend! GO COUGARS!!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
So write Kelsey a letter... you know you want to :)
Hey everyone!
Well... we got transfer calls... and yup... I'm gone. I was surprised because Hna. Wallet has been here for 4 transfers and it's her first area but she is training this transfer! President felt really strongly that she is the one that needs to train the new sister... so off I go to area #4! ha ha I'm super sad to be leaving Galveston... especially because the weather is perfect now- I love fall, but I'm also sad because I love the people here, I love the Branch, I love the island and it really is a fantastic place. I feel like this area is where I really started to love being a missionary- I have always loved talking to people and teaching them about the Gospel, but now I love all of the day to day stuff too. That's not to say that I still don't get a little frustrated, but its more of a sadness now when they don't accept the message. The Lord knows more than I do though so I'm excited to see where I go next- I don't think I'm quite ready to go back to Houston yet but we will see what the Lord has in mind.
This week was kinda slow because Hna. Wallet was sick for most of the weekend, and I was bored out of my mind. There isn't a whole lot you can do as a missionary when you stay in the apartment so I was going crazy- but its all good now :). It was super windy this last week also... like really windy... like we could hardly bike windy because of the storm that passed by- it didn't rain a lot but the wind brought some cooler weather so that was good. We had a Spanish Training on Wednesday for all the Spanish missionaries and President Saylin challenged us all to a 7 day English fast!!! So since Wednesday at 3:30 I have pretty much only spoken Spanish. We speak English during planning and companion study and to those that don't know Spanish, but other than that its all Spanish... It has been a little difficult but not as hard as I thought it would be. I have a lot to improve on though. Well I don't think I will do an Investigator Weekly this week because not much has changed from last week! Nidia, Erick and Daniela are still awesome and I just love them! I can't wait until her husband and daughter are baptized in October so that in October 2012 we can go to the temple with them as they get sealed!! It will be awesome.
Well Mom asked me to share a little bit more about Elder Holland so here is a little bit more: It was amazing to sit 10 feet away from him and just see him praying the whole time to know what to say to us. He talked about how his mission meant everything to him and that everything good that ever happened after was a direct result from his decision to serve. He talked about how God loves us for who we are. He also talked about how missionaries are neck and neck with President Monson with being the most prayed for people in the whole world. He told us that we have the name of every missionary, past, present, and future, on our backs and that we hold their reputation in our hands. He talked about how obedience is the first law of everything we do in life. He talked about why missions are so hard. "Why is it so hard? Because salvation is not a cheap experience." "Real salvation, real conversion, real repentance, real faith, real commitment is not cheap." "It has always been hard. How was it for the Savior? How can you expect it to be easy for you when it was never easy for Him?" "You've got to walk where he walked. The road to salvation always goes through Gethsemane. You can't 'get it' if you don't go there.' "You can't do it without Him, and the ironic thing is He can't do it without you." The last line he told us is my absolute favorite- "Embrace this forever and never ever, ever, ever, walk away."
It truly was a live changing experience. He plead with us to never leave the Church- he always wonders how people can go out for 18 months- 2 years studying this, testifying and telling people they know this is true and yet leave the Church when they get home. To see an Apostle of God tell us of his pain and anguish over this was truly a humbling experience. I can say with out a shadow of a doubt that he is an Apostle of God and the he has all of authority of Jesus Christ.
I know that the true church of Christ has again been restored to the earth and that we truly have prophets and apostles again on the earth that receive revelation for us, and if we follow it we will one day return to our Father in Heaven and we will be able to live as families forever! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the foundation of the Church and of everything that I know to be true.
Well I hope all is going well with y'all and that you had a fantastic and safe Labor Day weekend! GO COUGARS!!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
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