Hello my dear family and friends,
First of all I hope you all had a fantastic Conference weekend. It was a good weekend for us and we had 5 investigators at conference. It has been a long week so I'm going to start with Wednesday. We had a long day- we moved apartment complexes and were hoping to get everything moved in the morning so we could work all afternoon and evening. When we were about 10 minutes away from being all packed up and all of our furniture in the trailer Elder Hamilton (senior missionary in charge of housing) called our new complex to make sure our apartment was ready and it wasn't! They were still laying tile and it wouldn't be done until 4! Well at this time it was 10:30 am and we were in shorts with our suitcases packed in the car. So we had to pull out our suitcases and change and go work for a couple hours until we could move in. That made for a long day and put a damper on our schedule but its all good and now we have a 2 bedroom apartment! ha ha. Its not quite as big as our other one but its nice to have a study room.
So now on to the weekend! I was lucky to be able to listen to 1 1/2 sessions on Conference in English. I loved conference but I have to be honest and say that at some points it was very hard because of the fact that I wanted so bad to understand what was being said and it was difficult to be watching it somewhere else than in my house with my family. First time ever I have watched it in a church! We did have 5 investigators that attended and I will talk more about them a little later. It was a great weekend on the account that last night I was able to give the talk on baptism at Geovani's baptism!!!! I found out on Friday night that it was going to happen and that I had been asked to speak! It was such a cool experience to see someone, where I remember Hna. Tuckett contacting him at a gas station one night, make all the changes in his life and see him almost from start to finish. I feel so blessed to be a part of it. I also found out that another one of our investigators from last transfer, Ancelmo, was baptized last weekend! Leading up to Sunday he didn't feel ready but after Testimony meeting he was in tears and said that he wanted to be baptized so in a matter of 3 hours everything was ready and he was baptized!! There are a number of investigators that I taught that have dates for April 30th that are on track that we are planning to go back too also. Seeing Geovani get baptized was an amazing experience and that is why I'm a missionary. To help people find a renewed faith in Christ and teach them how to use the Atonement to cleanse their hearts and understand their purpose in live by gaining that relationship with their Heavenly Father and Savior.
I'm excited for our investigators here also to see them progress and hopefully have them make the same changes that Geovani has. The investigators that went to Conference this weekend are:
Fancis & Cepactli Salas: I told you last week about this amazing family. Well this is the mom and the 9 year old girl. They have come to church the last two weeks and yesterday they attended the afternoon session. We had a lesson with Francis this week and she is slowly progressing and has a desire that I feel is slowly growing to help her family become closer. As we were leaving Conference yesterday she said it was very beautiful and asked us how often it happens. She was disappointed when we said its only twice a year. She then said "So you're coming over Wednesday right?", and we hadn't set an appointment for Wednesday yet but as of yesterday at 5 we have an appointment with her on Wednesday! ha ha
Raul & Alba: They came to the Saturday afternoon session. We were excited because we have been trying to get them to come to church but it they haven't made it a priority yet. I was happy that most of the talks that session were on family, or at least I think they were on family- I didn't understand a lot of it, so that they would have that to relate too. Their 3 kids were so well behaved I was amazed! ha ha. We are hoping to go by tonight to check up and see what they thought and solidify their baptismal dates.
This area is a lot different than my last one and my companion is a lot different than my trainer, not in bad ways, just different. I feel this area is going to take a lot of stretching, growing, and learning on my part to help it become successful. I'm nervous but will do my best to work with my companion and to see in what ways we can change things to make this the successful area it can be. The Spanish is slowly coming, some days it feels better than others and often times I find myself getting discouraged because I feel like I should be making more progress than I have; but I just relate it to climbing Kilimanjaro. When we started the hike the mountain didn't seem very big and we were all gung-ho to climb it all in one day. As the days progressed we couldn't believe that mountain still looked the same size and the top didn't look any closer and we started to realize how big the mountain really was. Especially summit night, when it was cold and dark and we were tired, hungry, not feeling well, and the stars looked closer than the top of the mountain. All we could do it put one foot in front of the other and take on each step, rock, and task one at a time and eventually we made it to the top and got to enjoy the view and sense of accomplishment. I relate these first couple weeks, months, and transfers to this a lot when things get difficult. Sometimes I take it one day at a time, one lesson at a time, one contact at a time, or even one minute at a time and know that soon all of these will build on top of each other and I will be able to look back and see how all of these little steps helped me accomplish my goals and how I grew with each step. I know that Spanish will one day come and that I will be able to understand and communicate. I know that our loving Heavenly Father knows my feelings and situation. I know that my older brother, Jesus Christ, is there with me every step of the way lifting me when things get difficult. I knew the mission would be hard, but I don't think I understood how hard. Things are going good though, I just get frustrated with my own inadequacies and short comings. I am excited for this week and some of the things my companion and I have planned to implement to hopefully get us some new investigators!
OH! Funny story that I forgot to tell you all last week. So for the first time in my live I broke the Word of Wisdom and it was on my mission! ha ha We were eating dinner at a sweet members house and she gave us iced tea and we had no idea until she pulled out the bottle to pour us more! Needless to say this week when we went over again we reviewed the Word of Wisdom.. ha ha Anyway, I hope all is going well with you all, where ever this email finds you. I love you all and am continually thankful for your love, support, and letters with advice, love and encouragement. May our Heavenly Father continue to bless you all.
Love always,
Hermana Kelsey Berg
Monday, April 4, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 16
Howdy y'all!!
So... I was transfered closer to Relient Stadium but we can all look at it as a blessing that BYU won't be coming because I would be dying inside if they were to come.
So my new area is Houston 2 Central. I am in the ghetto and we rarely see white people, they are either Hispanic or Black. The ward is more bi-lingual than Houston 1. (Just a quick side note the bishop, Obispo Orlando Ramos, is a member of a year and a half. He was called to be the bishop the day after he and his wife were sealed in the Temple. He is some big engineer or something like that but totally looks 'bishop'. His wife was called to be the Relief Society President soon after their baptism and was released 3 months ago when he was called.)
My companion is Hermana Stevens from Bear Lake, ID and is in her last transfer so she leaves May 3rd. Its weird to know that I will take over the area and I feel very unprepared but I know that as I work hard these next 6 weeks the Lord will prepare me and lift me to the level He needs me to be. Spanish is coming slowly and sometimes I understand what is going on, in reality its probably more than I think but speaking in anything but present tense is a struggle. This week was a long week but I received a great blessing from the Lord (sorry if that sounds too missionary... I'm trying not to be ;) ). On Thursday morning I was feeling very home sick for Heber and for my last area where I had finally started to feel comfortable. During my prayer to start my personal study I plead with my Heavenly Father to help me not feel homesick. I didn't want my heart to ache and to go through the tough transition that I did when I first got to Texas. Before I even finished my prayer I felt comforted and the hurt went away and I haven't felt homesick since. As most of you know I very, very, very much dislike change so having to move so much the last little bit has been difficult but I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of me and that with each change I will grow, learn, and push myself just a little bit more and hey, who knows by the time June 2012 rolls around I might like change!! Ha ha
Now on to our investigators:
Familia Salas: They are a family of 5 who are amazing and their 9 year old girl wants them to be a normal family who prays and eats dinner together. ha ha. She is the driving force in her family. The mom and 9 year old came to church yesterday to Sacrament meeting and they seemed to enjoy it. We will find out this week how sincere they are when we check up to see if they have been praying and reading. Their date is April 23.
Raul y Alba: They have 3 kids. Alba goes to a church every Sunday morning at 8 but Raul doesn't. Raul reads what we leave them and Alba doesn't. We tried to get them to church yesterday but Raul's haircut went over so they didn't come- a pretty legit excuse if you ask me. (I think a haircut is SO much more important than my salvation ;). They promised to come to General Conference on Sunday though. Alba really wants to follow Christ and know which church is true, it just depends on if they are willing to change when they get the answer. We are praying that they recognize their answers on Saturday. Their date is also April 23.
Quick update from H1 Giovanni's baptism date is this Saturday!! I hope it goes through and will let you all know next week!
This area is a lot different than my last one. Its smaller and we have less progressing investigators. We will work hard though and meet our goals. We do have 10 with a date which is something we can work really hard on and help them achieve their goals. The work progresses and I continue to see tender mercies from the Lord every day. I thank you all so much for your love and support and know that the Lord will continue to bless all of you. With the Lord at the helm we have no reason to fear.
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
P.S. Just a reminder about the new address:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
So... I was transfered closer to Relient Stadium but we can all look at it as a blessing that BYU won't be coming because I would be dying inside if they were to come.
So my new area is Houston 2 Central. I am in the ghetto and we rarely see white people, they are either Hispanic or Black. The ward is more bi-lingual than Houston 1. (Just a quick side note the bishop, Obispo Orlando Ramos, is a member of a year and a half. He was called to be the bishop the day after he and his wife were sealed in the Temple. He is some big engineer or something like that but totally looks 'bishop'. His wife was called to be the Relief Society President soon after their baptism and was released 3 months ago when he was called.)
My companion is Hermana Stevens from Bear Lake, ID and is in her last transfer so she leaves May 3rd. Its weird to know that I will take over the area and I feel very unprepared but I know that as I work hard these next 6 weeks the Lord will prepare me and lift me to the level He needs me to be. Spanish is coming slowly and sometimes I understand what is going on, in reality its probably more than I think but speaking in anything but present tense is a struggle. This week was a long week but I received a great blessing from the Lord (sorry if that sounds too missionary... I'm trying not to be ;) ). On Thursday morning I was feeling very home sick for Heber and for my last area where I had finally started to feel comfortable. During my prayer to start my personal study I plead with my Heavenly Father to help me not feel homesick. I didn't want my heart to ache and to go through the tough transition that I did when I first got to Texas. Before I even finished my prayer I felt comforted and the hurt went away and I haven't felt homesick since. As most of you know I very, very, very much dislike change so having to move so much the last little bit has been difficult but I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of me and that with each change I will grow, learn, and push myself just a little bit more and hey, who knows by the time June 2012 rolls around I might like change!! Ha ha
Now on to our investigators:
Familia Salas: They are a family of 5 who are amazing and their 9 year old girl wants them to be a normal family who prays and eats dinner together. ha ha. She is the driving force in her family. The mom and 9 year old came to church yesterday to Sacrament meeting and they seemed to enjoy it. We will find out this week how sincere they are when we check up to see if they have been praying and reading. Their date is April 23.
Raul y Alba: They have 3 kids. Alba goes to a church every Sunday morning at 8 but Raul doesn't. Raul reads what we leave them and Alba doesn't. We tried to get them to church yesterday but Raul's haircut went over so they didn't come- a pretty legit excuse if you ask me. (I think a haircut is SO much more important than my salvation ;). They promised to come to General Conference on Sunday though. Alba really wants to follow Christ and know which church is true, it just depends on if they are willing to change when they get the answer. We are praying that they recognize their answers on Saturday. Their date is also April 23.
Quick update from H1 Giovanni's baptism date is this Saturday!! I hope it goes through and will let you all know next week!
This area is a lot different than my last one. Its smaller and we have less progressing investigators. We will work hard though and meet our goals. We do have 10 with a date which is something we can work really hard on and help them achieve their goals. The work progresses and I continue to see tender mercies from the Lord every day. I thank you all so much for your love and support and know that the Lord will continue to bless all of you. With the Lord at the helm we have no reason to fear.
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
P.S. Just a reminder about the new address:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 15
Howdy y'all
So just a little business to get out of the way before we get to the good stuff. This week the Mission Office is moving so that means we have a new address for letters. It is as follows:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Because of this move we didn't get our mail this week, I hope to get it on Wednesday at transfers, so if you wrote me I will write you back next week. It is a little confusing, the old address works until March 23rd and the new address doesn't work until March 25th so if you get mail back that says 'undeliverable' resend it to the new address after the 25th. Sorry about the hassle.
Now on to the good stuff!!
I'm getting transfered this week and my companion is training again. I figured that the Lord decided to transfer me because he knows I would go crazy if I was in Houston for the Final Four (which we all know BYU is going to be a part of) next week and couldn't go watch. (ha ha) I'm excited for the adventures and experiences that await me in my next area. I don't know where I'm going yet- I find that out at transfer meeting on Wednesday. Investigator updates:
Giovanni: You know an investigator is legit when he asks you how to apply in his life the things that he is learning. He came to church again this week and is really starting to get to know people and feel comfortable. His date is April 2nd and I can't think of a better thing than being able to come back to Houston 1 for his baptism on Conference Weekend! He is just so solid and is really starting to change and soften up.
Carina & Jose: So this week we went over to teach Jaime, the less active member that they live with. We thought we were going to just be teaching him but Carina and Jose joined us like it was nothing. ha ha Carina spend the whole time reading and marking the Book of Mormon and she told us how much she enjoys reading it. Their date is April 30th and I am so excited for them. They weren't able to come to church because Jose had to work but I can just see them being amazing members in no time! ha ha
Juan Jose (Pepe): He is a new this week that we met contacting. He is 21 and is here all by himself, family lives in Mexico. He is a plumber, has no phone, his car is broken, and he lives in this cute little one room house in the backyard of some of his friends. We taught him last night and I'm sad that I won't be able to continue with him but he is so humble and sincere. He actually read the pamphlet that we gave him (really rare) and could recall a lot of it pretty good. He said the prayer at the end of our lesson and it was a really good one! His date is April 30th. (I extended him that one so that it was still in the next transfer so that I could get permission to come back when he gets baptized! We can't come to baptisms out of our area if it has been more than one transfer, so I was kinda sneaky, ha ha but I have faith that he will be ready)
Well that is a quick update. Next week I will have new people to tell you about and tell you all about my new area!! The question that Giovanni asked us this week got me thinking- how often in the church do we teach things, such as to youth, and not teach them how to apply it? We teach them to prepare to go on a mission, or even small things like obeying the Word of Wisdom, but we don't teach them what that looks like or how to apply it in their lives. Like with modesty for example, what does keeping the WOW look like? What kind of friends do you have? What do you spend your free time doing? What kind of hobbies do you have? What simple things do you do every day to help you acheive your goal? Just simple questions which help us see the bigger picture and see the small steps on how we can reach our goals and apply what we learn and truely make it a part of us.
Well its going to be 80's all week down here in Texas. I hope that all of you are doing fantastic and that our Heavenly Father continues to bless you all. Please know of my love, admiration, and gratitude for all of you and your continued support and love. Cheer loud for my Cougars for me!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
So just a little business to get out of the way before we get to the good stuff. This week the Mission Office is moving so that means we have a new address for letters. It is as follows:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Because of this move we didn't get our mail this week, I hope to get it on Wednesday at transfers, so if you wrote me I will write you back next week. It is a little confusing, the old address works until March 23rd and the new address doesn't work until March 25th so if you get mail back that says 'undeliverable' resend it to the new address after the 25th. Sorry about the hassle.
Now on to the good stuff!!
I'm getting transfered this week and my companion is training again. I figured that the Lord decided to transfer me because he knows I would go crazy if I was in Houston for the Final Four (which we all know BYU is going to be a part of) next week and couldn't go watch. (ha ha) I'm excited for the adventures and experiences that await me in my next area. I don't know where I'm going yet- I find that out at transfer meeting on Wednesday. Investigator updates:
Giovanni: You know an investigator is legit when he asks you how to apply in his life the things that he is learning. He came to church again this week and is really starting to get to know people and feel comfortable. His date is April 2nd and I can't think of a better thing than being able to come back to Houston 1 for his baptism on Conference Weekend! He is just so solid and is really starting to change and soften up.
Carina & Jose: So this week we went over to teach Jaime, the less active member that they live with. We thought we were going to just be teaching him but Carina and Jose joined us like it was nothing. ha ha Carina spend the whole time reading and marking the Book of Mormon and she told us how much she enjoys reading it. Their date is April 30th and I am so excited for them. They weren't able to come to church because Jose had to work but I can just see them being amazing members in no time! ha ha
Juan Jose (Pepe): He is a new this week that we met contacting. He is 21 and is here all by himself, family lives in Mexico. He is a plumber, has no phone, his car is broken, and he lives in this cute little one room house in the backyard of some of his friends. We taught him last night and I'm sad that I won't be able to continue with him but he is so humble and sincere. He actually read the pamphlet that we gave him (really rare) and could recall a lot of it pretty good. He said the prayer at the end of our lesson and it was a really good one! His date is April 30th. (I extended him that one so that it was still in the next transfer so that I could get permission to come back when he gets baptized! We can't come to baptisms out of our area if it has been more than one transfer, so I was kinda sneaky, ha ha but I have faith that he will be ready)
Well that is a quick update. Next week I will have new people to tell you about and tell you all about my new area!! The question that Giovanni asked us this week got me thinking- how often in the church do we teach things, such as to youth, and not teach them how to apply it? We teach them to prepare to go on a mission, or even small things like obeying the Word of Wisdom, but we don't teach them what that looks like or how to apply it in their lives. Like with modesty for example, what does keeping the WOW look like? What kind of friends do you have? What do you spend your free time doing? What kind of hobbies do you have? What simple things do you do every day to help you acheive your goal? Just simple questions which help us see the bigger picture and see the small steps on how we can reach our goals and apply what we learn and truely make it a part of us.
Well its going to be 80's all week down here in Texas. I hope that all of you are doing fantastic and that our Heavenly Father continues to bless you all. Please know of my love, admiration, and gratitude for all of you and your continued support and love. Cheer loud for my Cougars for me!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Monday, March 14, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 14
Howdy y'all,
Things are going good down here in Texas. Its actually thundering, lightening, and raining really, really, really hard right now, (no rainstorm like a Texas storm) but it has been pretty nice weather all week- I don't even need a jacket! What am I doing? I have more important things to talk about than the weather!!!! So here is a run down of our investigators right now:
Giovanni: I told y'all a little about him a couple weeks ago but this week he accepted a date!! His date is April 2nd. He is super intelligent and we have to study the scriptures that we give him as homework because he always has very smart and deep questions about them. He has had a hard time in the past when it comes to praying because he is worried about saying something to God that he will regret but this week he prayed for the first time with us, earlier this week, and then said the opening prayer in our lesson yesterday. He has come to church for 3 weeks and Hna. Tuckett and I have already seen a change in him. He is a lot softer now and seems a lot happier. Just to recap, he is in the States investigating his brothers death by a drunk driver in 2001, because the driver never served time. He has a lot of pain in his life and likes to be able to understand everything so that has made his relationship with Heavenly Father a little strained but he is improving and he is already feeling the changes in his life.
Gloria: She is a 24 year old mom of 2. (We thought she was like 30 until we actually asked her this week). She has very little, if any, religious background and that has made us take a step back and be super simple and starting some sort of base. She asked us this week how to know if the Bible is true and when we extended her a baptismal date she didn't know what baptism was. She is improving and has a desire to change her life, and she has come to church for 3 weeks and enjoys Relief Society.
Carina & Jose: They are a new family we met this week that I am super excited about. We met them while visiting a less active member (who has been less active for 9 years since moving here from Guatemala) that we found, Jamie, who lives with them. They see the differences in Jamie's life, especially in the few times recently since we have been coming over, and they want to change for their kids and gain a better relationship with God. They are so cute (call each other baby, something I haven't heard anyone else say yet) and actually married (a very rare thing in Hispanic culture at this point) and have 2 little kids, Emmanuel (3) and Alison (18 months). They like the gospel already because they have been so confused for so long that its nice to hear something that actually makes sense. They always tell us to not stop coming over and they are very eager and willing to learn more. Jose wants to quit drinking and be a better father. Both of them have had a hard and difficult past and want to move away from that. I'm super excited for them to keep progressing.
These are the investigators that I'm most excited for right now. I love all of our 11 investigators but these are the ones that are progressing the most. Its kinda weird at this point because transfers are next week and we have a feeling that Hermana Tuckett will be training again because there are 4 new spanish sisters coming in, which means that I will get moved. The way it works is that we find out on Monday morning if in fact she is training, and then if she is I find out where I'm going at Transfer meeting on Wednesday. So next Monday I will let you all know if I'm staying or going! Things are going well though, this transfer has kinda gone by fast. Our days are really long so I have to make sure and write in my journal every night or else I blend the days together and can't tell one days experiences from the next. I'm going to send pictures home next week so when my Mom gets those she can attach a few in an email and you all can see my awesome tan!! Ha ha, just kidding, but I do hope that you all are enjoying the snow. ;) Spanish is coming along slowly. I am understanding more words and trying to actively listen and write down the words that I can make out so I can learn them. My head hurts by the end of every day from concentrating so hard. Yeah, yeah I know that all of you just thought of some sarcastic comment you would tell me if I was there in person, ha ha. I hope all is going well with all of you and your families. The work of the Lord continues to progress in Houston and He is the one directing it. Thanks again for all your letters, love, and support.
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Things are going good down here in Texas. Its actually thundering, lightening, and raining really, really, really hard right now, (no rainstorm like a Texas storm) but it has been pretty nice weather all week- I don't even need a jacket! What am I doing? I have more important things to talk about than the weather!!!! So here is a run down of our investigators right now:
Giovanni: I told y'all a little about him a couple weeks ago but this week he accepted a date!! His date is April 2nd. He is super intelligent and we have to study the scriptures that we give him as homework because he always has very smart and deep questions about them. He has had a hard time in the past when it comes to praying because he is worried about saying something to God that he will regret but this week he prayed for the first time with us, earlier this week, and then said the opening prayer in our lesson yesterday. He has come to church for 3 weeks and Hna. Tuckett and I have already seen a change in him. He is a lot softer now and seems a lot happier. Just to recap, he is in the States investigating his brothers death by a drunk driver in 2001, because the driver never served time. He has a lot of pain in his life and likes to be able to understand everything so that has made his relationship with Heavenly Father a little strained but he is improving and he is already feeling the changes in his life.
Gloria: She is a 24 year old mom of 2. (We thought she was like 30 until we actually asked her this week). She has very little, if any, religious background and that has made us take a step back and be super simple and starting some sort of base. She asked us this week how to know if the Bible is true and when we extended her a baptismal date she didn't know what baptism was. She is improving and has a desire to change her life, and she has come to church for 3 weeks and enjoys Relief Society.
Carina & Jose: They are a new family we met this week that I am super excited about. We met them while visiting a less active member (who has been less active for 9 years since moving here from Guatemala) that we found, Jamie, who lives with them. They see the differences in Jamie's life, especially in the few times recently since we have been coming over, and they want to change for their kids and gain a better relationship with God. They are so cute (call each other baby, something I haven't heard anyone else say yet) and actually married (a very rare thing in Hispanic culture at this point) and have 2 little kids, Emmanuel (3) and Alison (18 months). They like the gospel already because they have been so confused for so long that its nice to hear something that actually makes sense. They always tell us to not stop coming over and they are very eager and willing to learn more. Jose wants to quit drinking and be a better father. Both of them have had a hard and difficult past and want to move away from that. I'm super excited for them to keep progressing.
These are the investigators that I'm most excited for right now. I love all of our 11 investigators but these are the ones that are progressing the most. Its kinda weird at this point because transfers are next week and we have a feeling that Hermana Tuckett will be training again because there are 4 new spanish sisters coming in, which means that I will get moved. The way it works is that we find out on Monday morning if in fact she is training, and then if she is I find out where I'm going at Transfer meeting on Wednesday. So next Monday I will let you all know if I'm staying or going! Things are going well though, this transfer has kinda gone by fast. Our days are really long so I have to make sure and write in my journal every night or else I blend the days together and can't tell one days experiences from the next. I'm going to send pictures home next week so when my Mom gets those she can attach a few in an email and you all can see my awesome tan!! Ha ha, just kidding, but I do hope that you all are enjoying the snow. ;) Spanish is coming along slowly. I am understanding more words and trying to actively listen and write down the words that I can make out so I can learn them. My head hurts by the end of every day from concentrating so hard. Yeah, yeah I know that all of you just thought of some sarcastic comment you would tell me if I was there in person, ha ha. I hope all is going well with all of you and your families. The work of the Lord continues to progress in Houston and He is the one directing it. Thanks again for all your letters, love, and support.
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Monday, March 7, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 13
Howdy y'all
So tomorrow is my 3 month mark!! It feels like I have been in Texas forever! Everything is going good and we had our first baptism of the transfer yesterday!! His name is Carlos Villatoro and he is from Honduras! He is awesome and has such a strong testimony. It was such an interesting experience last night. I have to be honest I didn't feel anything different until he walked down into the font, and then the Spirit was so strong and it was a feeling that I can't even really describe. It was amazing and it was an experience I will always remember. We had an investigator, Giovanni, come to the baptism and he came to church yesterday for the 2nd time also. He is the one that is really intelligent and is here investigating his brothers death. He really enjoys church and I can see the Spirit, through reading the Book of Mormon and going to church, softening his heart so hopefully he will be open to praying here pretty soon. We taught him the Restoration last week and it all made sense to him and he didn't have any questions. His questions all come from the readings we give him. He is so logical that he has questions about particular verses that we had never even though of before! The Spirit will keep working on him and I know that once he prays he will get all of his answers. He will be baptized before we know it!
So surprise!! You know how I told y'all that my trainer is on her last transfer? Well guess what... that's not true. I found out this week that she was extended before I got here so she has one more transfer. Which changes up my thinking a bit. I was so nervous because thinking that this was her last one meant that there was a pretty good chance that I would have to take over the area. The area is going so good that its very doubtful that they would whitewash the area, that's when they bring in 2 new missionaries. So it was just logical that I would be the one to say, but now with her not going home yet there are of course 3 options! 1- I get transferred. 2- She gets transferred. 3- We both stay. I'm convinced that she will probably stay and train because there is going to be a huge turnover of spanish sisters here really soon and we get 4 new ones this next transfer which is March 23, but we will see what happens and what the Lord has planned! At this point we have 7 investigators with a date, 15 progressing, and we had 10 at church yesterday which was pretty awesome! The work of the Lord is in full force here that is for sure!
I feel impressed to ask a favor of y'all. I'm not quite sure who is all on the email list or who all reads this every week, my mom tells me that people have been added, but I hope you all feel some sort of spiritual uplifting and enlightenment each week. I have thought this week about what I wanted to write about today. I have thought about how I am taking 18 months of my life to come to Texas and help strangers find true happiness in their life and how to fully allow Savior's Atonement to make their life easier, yet there may be people at home that I love and care about and mean so much to me that might not have found this true happiness for themselves yet. So my favor is for all of you to do as the Introduction to the Book of Mormon says and ask God, the Eternal Father, if these things are true. Just read a little bit of the Book of Mormon, my personal favorites are Enos 1:1-8, Ether 12:17, and 3 Nephi 27. Read these, or even just read Joseph Smith's account, and humble yourself to pray to our Heavenly Father to know if these things are true. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive and answer and that you will know of a surety that these thing are true. The second part of the favor is, if you feel comfortable, to write me and tell me of your experience and how you know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. With these experiences I can help my investigators understand what to look for and all the different ways that we can receive our answers through the Holy Ghost.
Anyway... I hope all is going well with all of you!! As I do every week I want to thank you all for your letters, emails, love, and continued support. Spanish is coming along slowly but surely and I know the Lord will continue to bless me. Right now I am in a town called Brazos. Its totally country and I love it! ha ha. We are just spending the day with some other sisters and things are going well. The weather is totally spring weather with it being cool in the mornings and nights, but warmer during the day. May our Heavenly Father's choicest blessings be upon y'all!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
So tomorrow is my 3 month mark!! It feels like I have been in Texas forever! Everything is going good and we had our first baptism of the transfer yesterday!! His name is Carlos Villatoro and he is from Honduras! He is awesome and has such a strong testimony. It was such an interesting experience last night. I have to be honest I didn't feel anything different until he walked down into the font, and then the Spirit was so strong and it was a feeling that I can't even really describe. It was amazing and it was an experience I will always remember. We had an investigator, Giovanni, come to the baptism and he came to church yesterday for the 2nd time also. He is the one that is really intelligent and is here investigating his brothers death. He really enjoys church and I can see the Spirit, through reading the Book of Mormon and going to church, softening his heart so hopefully he will be open to praying here pretty soon. We taught him the Restoration last week and it all made sense to him and he didn't have any questions. His questions all come from the readings we give him. He is so logical that he has questions about particular verses that we had never even though of before! The Spirit will keep working on him and I know that once he prays he will get all of his answers. He will be baptized before we know it!
So surprise!! You know how I told y'all that my trainer is on her last transfer? Well guess what... that's not true. I found out this week that she was extended before I got here so she has one more transfer. Which changes up my thinking a bit. I was so nervous because thinking that this was her last one meant that there was a pretty good chance that I would have to take over the area. The area is going so good that its very doubtful that they would whitewash the area, that's when they bring in 2 new missionaries. So it was just logical that I would be the one to say, but now with her not going home yet there are of course 3 options! 1- I get transferred. 2- She gets transferred. 3- We both stay. I'm convinced that she will probably stay and train because there is going to be a huge turnover of spanish sisters here really soon and we get 4 new ones this next transfer which is March 23, but we will see what happens and what the Lord has planned! At this point we have 7 investigators with a date, 15 progressing, and we had 10 at church yesterday which was pretty awesome! The work of the Lord is in full force here that is for sure!
I feel impressed to ask a favor of y'all. I'm not quite sure who is all on the email list or who all reads this every week, my mom tells me that people have been added, but I hope you all feel some sort of spiritual uplifting and enlightenment each week. I have thought this week about what I wanted to write about today. I have thought about how I am taking 18 months of my life to come to Texas and help strangers find true happiness in their life and how to fully allow Savior's Atonement to make their life easier, yet there may be people at home that I love and care about and mean so much to me that might not have found this true happiness for themselves yet. So my favor is for all of you to do as the Introduction to the Book of Mormon says and ask God, the Eternal Father, if these things are true. Just read a little bit of the Book of Mormon, my personal favorites are Enos 1:1-8, Ether 12:17, and 3 Nephi 27. Read these, or even just read Joseph Smith's account, and humble yourself to pray to our Heavenly Father to know if these things are true. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive and answer and that you will know of a surety that these thing are true. The second part of the favor is, if you feel comfortable, to write me and tell me of your experience and how you know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. With these experiences I can help my investigators understand what to look for and all the different ways that we can receive our answers through the Holy Ghost.
Anyway... I hope all is going well with all of you!! As I do every week I want to thank you all for your letters, emails, love, and continued support. Spanish is coming along slowly but surely and I know the Lord will continue to bless me. Right now I am in a town called Brazos. Its totally country and I love it! ha ha. We are just spending the day with some other sisters and things are going well. The weather is totally spring weather with it being cool in the mornings and nights, but warmer during the day. May our Heavenly Father's choicest blessings be upon y'all!!
Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
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