Letters from Kelsey - 68

Hey everyone! Well I hope y'all had a fantastic Easter weekend! We had a decent one out here. Only Sarina came to church yesterday when about 5 other people committed to come... that always makes for a rough Sunday evening. As a missionary the success of your week is determined by your turn out at church, so we weren't super excited last night. Oh well. We had dinner with a family from one of the English wards because they were supposed to have a non-member friend that speaks Spanish come over, but he is a heart surgeon and he was on call yesterday so as he was driving down their road he was called in, someone coded (aka their heart stopped) so he had to go... it seemed all too familiar :), I have seen that happen more times than I can count. That was really the only exciting thing for our Easter- we had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, raspberry pie, and jello. I felt right at home! It was way too good to be true! We had a really fun branch Easter party on Saturday and I was introduced, so nicely, to confetti eggs. The pictures are the results of this introduction. The Young Men President- Hno. Ruiz- got me first and then all the little kids thought it would be fun so they joined in... So what they are are real egg shells that have been emptied, cleaned, colored, filled with confetti, and then covered. What you do is just smash them on people's heads... it was fun, yet I still have some pink and purple spots on my back from the coloring that didn't come off. A lot of Hispanics make their own and sell them but you can also buy them from the stores down here- quite interesting. It was a really good time though, it was a nice day so that was fun also. Here we go for out Easter edition of the Investigator Weekly!!! Sarina: Her parents don't think that baptism is something that is important to her, they feel like in a family with 4 kids she has just found something that is just her own so they they want her to wait until she is a little older. I think she knows there is something different about the Church and she knows she feels good when she is there and does the things of the Church. Our goal now is to teach her simply and to help her be able to verbalize everything so that she can talk to her parents about it and they can see that it really is something she wants and that she understands the commitment. Severo: He said he would come yesterday and then didn't... I guess we will have to have a DTR (determine the relationship) this week to see what he interest level really is. Maria S.: She is new and was a referral from the Silverlake Elders. She is super cool and accepted a date for May 5. She had 2 kids and was raised Catholic and has also gone to a non-denominational Christian church but has felt that they were both lacking something. She was excited to read the Book of Mormon and find out for herself if Joseph Smith was a prophet. I'm excited to see where she goes. That is really it... I feel like we are always struggling with our teaching pool, but we keep working hoping that we will be in the place where we are supposed do, doing the things that we are supposed to so that the Lord can bless us and we can find those that are prepared. Sometimes I get tired of talking to people though, this last week I talked to a lady who told me that I wasn't a Christian... normally when people don't want to talk to us it doesn't bother me because they just are prepared and they aren't worth getting all worked up about. There are really only two things that tick me off when we talk to people 1) when they tell me I'm not Christian or they tell me what I believe, 2) when they assume that because I'm only 22 I just follow blindly and am not old enough or experienced enough to know of these things for myself, or when they feel the need to 'enlighten me'. They are the ones that get me going... its all good though, we have to get through those to get to the ones that really are looking for something better in their life. Well... we just keep working away- yesterday was my 16 month mark! Can y'all believe it? I sure can't. Well I hope y'all have a good week and that the Lord continues to bless y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg