Letters from Kelsey - 64

Hey everyone!! Well it was a wet weekend in Manvel, Texas- not only because of the thunderstorms we had but also because Victor Mendez got baptized!!! It is a very liberating baptism for me- ha ha. He has been ready to be baptized since the middle of January and he has been weighing on my mind and I have been stressing a little about it, but I'm very thankful that everything fell into place to where he was able to have a very awesome baptism yesterday. I was nervous because his parents didn't come until sacrament meeting was almost over because of the rain. Victor came early with his uncle so that he could have his baptismal interview, and I wasn't going to baptize him with out his family there- so I was very relieved when they showed up. It was great and it was a really good time for his family- his parents are returning to activity and so are 2 of his uncles and their wives. It was really awesome, one uncle baptized him and the other confirmed him. I was really happy for them and I was happy that Hna. Ker was able to get a baptism in her first transfer- even though she doesn't know Victor very well, its still an awesome feeling to watch a convert baptism. Well our investigator pool is a little dry right now but not from lack of trying. We talked to a whole bunch of people this week but... they were all English people! We tried to branch out to new neighborhoods but it didn't really work- but we have seen blessings for trying extra hard to talk to our 10 people (each) a day. We will keep doing it with the hope, prayer, and faith that the Lord will provide. Now to the Investigator Weekly! RJ: They had a busy week so we weren't able to see them but we will see them this week and we are trying to decide when is the right time to bring up baptism again. We don't want his mom to feel pressured but I think that him getting baptized will be a really good spring board for the family to keep returning to activity. His mom found out this last week that she is pregnant... so it will be boy #5... she has 3 of her own and 1 that is her sister's that she has custody of. She isn't really happy to be pregnant but we will try and use it to help her come closer to the Lord and to really work on keeping the commandments so that they can have His extra help in their growing family. Sarina: Well... we are still waiting to meet with her parents but we are getting a lot of support from the ward with helping her know about baptism and its importance. I'm excited for General Conference coming up so that hopefully we can get a member to invite Sarina and her family over to watch conference, which would be a really good introduction to the Church for her family. Well... sadly thats about it for this week. I'm hoping that next week I'll lots of new and awesome people to tell y'all about. It was a good week though and went by pretty fast. Its interesting to see the trends that happen in life. For example, this week we talked to a lot of people who go to non-denominational churches. I have thought a lot about that... I feel bad for those people. Yes they are being good Christians and going to church, but if you really think about it they are living beneath their potential and are okay with it. When people/churches don't require any real change or work, then what is the motivation? If they don't think that God requires them to change and improve and grow, then they don't understand the purpose of this life, or really the nature of God. If you go to church every week and your preacher tells you what a good job you are doing and how much Jesus loves you for just trying, then where is the growth? Do you leave with any real determination to become something more or do you know what you need to change to become more like Christ? I think of General Conference and the talks by the general authorities or President Monson. We leave those talks feeling up lifted and motivated even when we get chastised- like with Elder Holland :). We are called on to become better and to rise above the things of the world- and we know that we have lots of things to change and improve, yet we know that we are doing it because we have the goal to become like our Heavenly Father and we know the purpose of this life. I don't know if any of that makes sense but just some thoughts from this week... Anyway... I'm short on time but that was my week! I hope y'all have a great week. I miss and love y'all! I hope the good Lord continues to bless you and your families this week! Go Cougars!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg