Hey y'all!
Well we survived Thanksgiving... barely, thats what happens when you have 2 Thanksgiving dinners. We had a really good Thanksgiving and it was nice to have it on a P-day so we could relax a little bit. I have never eaten so much in my life though... so we got up and did our little shopping (neither of us needed a lot last week) and then we headed to the Ortizs at 11 and helped them cook until the Lunas came over and we ate at 1 and hung out there until P-day ended at 4:30. Then we went and ate with the Leijas at 5 and after I just hurt because of all the food. It was super good and both families are very English so it was normal turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all that jazz. After the Leijas we went to the Lunas because they invited us over (we weren't allowed to just stop by at people's houses so we were glad they invited us or else we would've just rode our bikes around in the cold and the dark talking to people walking their dog) we didn't eat anything at the Lunas though- we apologized but told them we didn't have anymore room. It was fun to hang out with a family and have it actually feel like a holiday- we just lacked the football... ha ha. I was so full that I didn't even eat breakfast the next morning because I was still full- but it was great and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
I hope y'all had a good holiday also now to the Investigator Weekly!
De Hoyos: They are so great and Justin(8) and Damien(10) have baptismal dates for the 17th and their dad already announced it in Priesthood on Sunday so they are super excited for that and we had a fantastic lesson with them on Saturday. So their oldest is Gabriel Jr (15) and he acts like a normal 15 year old (too cool for anything) but he is a great kid. He said the opening prayer for the lesson and on Sunday he came to church with a white shirt and tie! On Saturday we taught them about the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and they all had their Book of Mormons and they took turns reading and are just such a cute family. They still have a long way to go but this Saturday we are going to help them sent a date to go to the temple so they can all work together as a family. They are my favorite family ever.
Hno. Chavez: He is still great and on track to be baptized on the 24th. We taught them the Plan of Salvation on Sunday and next Sunday they are going to teach us how to make this really good drink- its milk, sugar, cinnamon, and they put in either oats or rice, its hot and super good. They are going to teach us how to make it and you know Hispanics like you when they want to either: 1) feed you or 2) teach you how to cook something, so we are in good with them ha ha. He told us last week that we better come back when they go through the temple in a year or else they won't go through... ha ha I'm totally coming back.
Gavino and Ana: We taught them the Law of Chastity and they working out how they are going to follow that because they aren't married, but they will make the right choice and will be baptized soon. They are great.
Anyway- time is short. Hna. Moser got the transfer call this morning so our hope of staying together is dead. I'm super bummed because we were hoping for another and I don't like change and I don't want to have to get used to another companion and all that but its whatever the Lord wants and we just accept it with faith. I hope everything is still going well with y'all! I hope y'all have a great week! Love y'all! Go Cougars!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 48
Hey everyone!
Oh man on man... It was fantastic week. On Sunday Hno. Chavez (husband of a member) accept a baptismal date for December 24th! Missionaries have been working with him forever and I don't know what is different but he feels ready now! We also have this amazing family but I will tell y'all all about it in... the... INVESTIGATOR WEEKLY!!!
The De Hoyos: They are from Las Vegas and have been here for about a year. They have 8 kids with the oldest being 15 and the youngest being 2. They were baptized in Vegas with 3 of their kids but they have 2 that can be baptized and those are the 2 we are working with. They have been inactive for a couple of years so we are working on bringing them back. They live in the middle of no where though so its hard to go and see them more than once a week because it takes like 30 min to get there and we have to have a member take us because we are only allotted so many miles a month with the car and we can't afford to go all the way out there. They are awesome though and came to the Branch party and to church on Sunday! It was the craziest sacrament meeting ever because I had no idea what was going on because I was trying to keep the kids reverent. They just don't know how to be reverent but they want to and they loved church. The subject line comes from Justin- the 8 year old, on Saturday when we went over we were talking about prayer and how prayer can help us with the things we want in life and he said "I want to have 2 jobs when I grow up, I want to work where my Dad works and I want to be a Mormon." They are just awesome and I love them and can't wait to see the change that comes into their family as they keep going to church. I was a miracle we found them, we contacted Hermano's brother about a month ago and he mentioned to us that his brother was married in an LDS building in Vegas and then one day when we went over, the family was over there and they said they want to come back to church and we got their info and here we are!
Gavino & Ana: They are doing great and we are going to keep pressing forward. I don't know if they will hit their date of the 3rd because they still aren't married and we haven't had a chance to teach the law of chastity because when we went and planned on teaching it the grandkids joined in so we changed it to the 10 commandments, but this week we are going to teach it.
Oh man... its pouring outside right now- crazy Texas. I love this area, I love this branch, I love our investigators, and Hna. Moser and I are hoping to stay together next week when transfer calls come. We have been lobbying President Saylin because 3 transfers together is very rare, but it would be fantastic. I hope that y'all have a fantastic Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all of the blessings I receive everyday. I am thankful for the Gospel and the happiness, hope, and clarity it brings to my life and to those I meet everyday. I am thankful for my family and for all they do for me and for their love, support, and encouragement. I am thankful for my parents and for the way they raised me and for all the values they taught me and for raising me in the Gospel. I am thankful for all of you for your love, support, and for always being there. I am so blessed to have so many friends and family that I can lean on when life get difficult. I'm grateful for the knowledge of the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us and that families can be eternal. I'm thankful for the Atonement, without it I would not be on a mission or have any hope in live because of my weaknesses and imperfections. I am thankful for this time I have to serve the Lord and the people of Houston- I have changed in ways that will bless my future. I am thankful for the lessons I learn everyday and the opportunity to change and because better. I am so thankful for my Savior and for all that he did for me and all that he continues to do for my everyday, being my support, my guide, and my friend. I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving of family and food- oh and watch some football for me please!! Love y'all!! Go Cougars!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Oh man on man... It was fantastic week. On Sunday Hno. Chavez (husband of a member) accept a baptismal date for December 24th! Missionaries have been working with him forever and I don't know what is different but he feels ready now! We also have this amazing family but I will tell y'all all about it in... the... INVESTIGATOR WEEKLY!!!
The De Hoyos: They are from Las Vegas and have been here for about a year. They have 8 kids with the oldest being 15 and the youngest being 2. They were baptized in Vegas with 3 of their kids but they have 2 that can be baptized and those are the 2 we are working with. They have been inactive for a couple of years so we are working on bringing them back. They live in the middle of no where though so its hard to go and see them more than once a week because it takes like 30 min to get there and we have to have a member take us because we are only allotted so many miles a month with the car and we can't afford to go all the way out there. They are awesome though and came to the Branch party and to church on Sunday! It was the craziest sacrament meeting ever because I had no idea what was going on because I was trying to keep the kids reverent. They just don't know how to be reverent but they want to and they loved church. The subject line comes from Justin- the 8 year old, on Saturday when we went over we were talking about prayer and how prayer can help us with the things we want in life and he said "I want to have 2 jobs when I grow up, I want to work where my Dad works and I want to be a Mormon." They are just awesome and I love them and can't wait to see the change that comes into their family as they keep going to church. I was a miracle we found them, we contacted Hermano's brother about a month ago and he mentioned to us that his brother was married in an LDS building in Vegas and then one day when we went over, the family was over there and they said they want to come back to church and we got their info and here we are!
Gavino & Ana: They are doing great and we are going to keep pressing forward. I don't know if they will hit their date of the 3rd because they still aren't married and we haven't had a chance to teach the law of chastity because when we went and planned on teaching it the grandkids joined in so we changed it to the 10 commandments, but this week we are going to teach it.
Oh man... its pouring outside right now- crazy Texas. I love this area, I love this branch, I love our investigators, and Hna. Moser and I are hoping to stay together next week when transfer calls come. We have been lobbying President Saylin because 3 transfers together is very rare, but it would be fantastic. I hope that y'all have a fantastic Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all of the blessings I receive everyday. I am thankful for the Gospel and the happiness, hope, and clarity it brings to my life and to those I meet everyday. I am thankful for my family and for all they do for me and for their love, support, and encouragement. I am thankful for my parents and for the way they raised me and for all the values they taught me and for raising me in the Gospel. I am thankful for all of you for your love, support, and for always being there. I am so blessed to have so many friends and family that I can lean on when life get difficult. I'm grateful for the knowledge of the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us and that families can be eternal. I'm thankful for the Atonement, without it I would not be on a mission or have any hope in live because of my weaknesses and imperfections. I am thankful for this time I have to serve the Lord and the people of Houston- I have changed in ways that will bless my future. I am thankful for the lessons I learn everyday and the opportunity to change and because better. I am so thankful for my Savior and for all that he did for me and all that he continues to do for my everyday, being my support, my guide, and my friend. I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving of family and food- oh and watch some football for me please!! Love y'all!! Go Cougars!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 47
Hey everyone!
I feel like I was just emailing y'all yesterday! Well nothing really is new this week and I don't really have anything to report or say... weird I know- when was the last time I didn't have anything to say? ha ha- I don't know if that has ever happened. Well here is the Investigator Weekly! (maybe I'll have something to say after)
Gavino & Ana: We taught them the rest of the Plan of Salvation this last week, but they didn't come to church- it was stake conference though. We will have to see how things go this week. We also learned that they aren't married and they didn't seem very excited at the idea of marriage because they have only known each other since May. That might be the real test of how strong their testimony is- guess we will find out.
Ena: We stopped by yesterday and she said that she didn't want to read, pray, or go to church anymore... so she dropped us and we will try to stay in contact every once in a while.
We are starting to teach the husband of a member- Hno. Chavez- and he seems to be willing so we will see where it goes and we also found a less-active family from Las Vegas that we are trying to bring back and they have 2 kids they want baptized. They live in the middle of nowhere though... like really- it takes us about 30 minutes to get there, but they seems to have true desires, we just gotta help them a little.
We had a good week though. It was a cool meeting with Elder Rasband, he didn't really have a set talk or set theme. He talked about a lot of different things and he is a really nice guy. I wish I had more to tell y'all but it was a slow week. I was a little frustrated because I feel like something needs to change in our area and I have no idea what that is. I still get frustrated when lessons fall through or when we can't find anyone outside. I still get frustrated with people's weaknesses but I have faith that by the end of my mission the Lord will help me with a little more patience... ha ha. Well I love y'all and miss y'all tons! I hope y'all have a good week in preparation for Thanksgiving!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
I feel like I was just emailing y'all yesterday! Well nothing really is new this week and I don't really have anything to report or say... weird I know- when was the last time I didn't have anything to say? ha ha- I don't know if that has ever happened. Well here is the Investigator Weekly! (maybe I'll have something to say after)
Gavino & Ana: We taught them the rest of the Plan of Salvation this last week, but they didn't come to church- it was stake conference though. We will have to see how things go this week. We also learned that they aren't married and they didn't seem very excited at the idea of marriage because they have only known each other since May. That might be the real test of how strong their testimony is- guess we will find out.
Ena: We stopped by yesterday and she said that she didn't want to read, pray, or go to church anymore... so she dropped us and we will try to stay in contact every once in a while.
We are starting to teach the husband of a member- Hno. Chavez- and he seems to be willing so we will see where it goes and we also found a less-active family from Las Vegas that we are trying to bring back and they have 2 kids they want baptized. They live in the middle of nowhere though... like really- it takes us about 30 minutes to get there, but they seems to have true desires, we just gotta help them a little.
We had a good week though. It was a cool meeting with Elder Rasband, he didn't really have a set talk or set theme. He talked about a lot of different things and he is a really nice guy. I wish I had more to tell y'all but it was a slow week. I was a little frustrated because I feel like something needs to change in our area and I have no idea what that is. I still get frustrated when lessons fall through or when we can't find anyone outside. I still get frustrated with people's weaknesses but I have faith that by the end of my mission the Lord will help me with a little more patience... ha ha. Well I love y'all and miss y'all tons! I hope y'all have a good week in preparation for Thanksgiving!!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 46
Hey howdy hey...
So this was a pretty good week, time is changing (oh speaking of that, I LOVED! the extra hour of sleep on Sunday- amazing) but what I mean is that now the days are going by fast and the weeks are going by slow... its probably because we have had so many other things going on that our weekly schedule isn't like it usually is- oh well, its all good. We had Zone Conference (a meeting we have every other transfer, about, with half of the mission) yesterday and that is why we are emailing today, and another change in the schedule is that on Friday Elder Ronald A. Rasband (senior president of the 70) is coming to speak to the Houston missions- should be pretty cool.
It was a good week and Sunday just topped it off. We had 3 people at church (Gavino, Ana, and Sonia) we had a very inactive family come to all 3 hours, and a less active family come for the first time in 2 months, AND it was a very good testimony meeting and all of the members bore good testimonies and were super nice to our investigators and less active families. I was a very content missionary after church. It was a very good day to have because our area has been struggling a little recently and I have been praying to know what to do to improve our area and find those people the Lord has prepared. We have just been plugging along and trying to be diligent and it seems to be paying off, and that will take us to the Investigator Weekly!
Gavino and Ana: I think this is the first time I have mentioned them. They are an older couple and we met them a couple weeks ago and have taught them 3 times now. They are very willing to learn and very excited to come to church- they loved church on Sunday. They are a little slower and I feel that sometimes they just go along with things even if they might not really know it. Last night we taught them about the Word of Wisdom and Gavino smokes so it will be a great test of their true desires if they can follow the Word of Wisdom. They were very willing to follow it and they have some health problems so it will be great to see it bless their lives.
Maria: She is still progressing. We are excited for her and we are going to extend the date soon of December 24th for her and her family to work towards baptism cool huh!
Ena:... she has kinda dropped us... will let you know what happens next week.
So I had an interesting experience this week on my exchange with Hna. Worthen- I realized, for the first time, how old I am in the mission and how short my time truly is, and it made me reflect, ponder, and question if I have - up to this point- done all I needed to do and become all I needed to become. It has made me very pensive this week on what goals I need to have and what things I need to change for the last 7 months so I can make sure I know the answers to those questions when my time is up. It has been the same way with the new training program that we have been studying (it is a focus on the 8 fundamentals of Preach My Gospel (the missionary manual book), the fundamentals are: revelation through church, teach people not lessons, they commit we follow up, revelation through the Book of Mormon, the missionary purpose,... and I can't for the life of me remember the other 3... shows how much I know them huh... haha). It is very sobering and humbling when we get back to basics and I realize exactly how much I lack and how many weaknesses I truly have, but in times like these I am very grateful for the Atonement and the opportunity to change and improve.
I hope that everything is going well for y'all. I miss and love y'all tons! I hope the Lord continues to bless you and your families in all that you do! Go Cougars!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
So this was a pretty good week, time is changing (oh speaking of that, I LOVED! the extra hour of sleep on Sunday- amazing) but what I mean is that now the days are going by fast and the weeks are going by slow... its probably because we have had so many other things going on that our weekly schedule isn't like it usually is- oh well, its all good. We had Zone Conference (a meeting we have every other transfer, about, with half of the mission) yesterday and that is why we are emailing today, and another change in the schedule is that on Friday Elder Ronald A. Rasband (senior president of the 70) is coming to speak to the Houston missions- should be pretty cool.
It was a good week and Sunday just topped it off. We had 3 people at church (Gavino, Ana, and Sonia) we had a very inactive family come to all 3 hours, and a less active family come for the first time in 2 months, AND it was a very good testimony meeting and all of the members bore good testimonies and were super nice to our investigators and less active families. I was a very content missionary after church. It was a very good day to have because our area has been struggling a little recently and I have been praying to know what to do to improve our area and find those people the Lord has prepared. We have just been plugging along and trying to be diligent and it seems to be paying off, and that will take us to the Investigator Weekly!
Gavino and Ana: I think this is the first time I have mentioned them. They are an older couple and we met them a couple weeks ago and have taught them 3 times now. They are very willing to learn and very excited to come to church- they loved church on Sunday. They are a little slower and I feel that sometimes they just go along with things even if they might not really know it. Last night we taught them about the Word of Wisdom and Gavino smokes so it will be a great test of their true desires if they can follow the Word of Wisdom. They were very willing to follow it and they have some health problems so it will be great to see it bless their lives.
Maria: She is still progressing. We are excited for her and we are going to extend the date soon of December 24th for her and her family to work towards baptism cool huh!
Ena:... she has kinda dropped us... will let you know what happens next week.
So I had an interesting experience this week on my exchange with Hna. Worthen- I realized, for the first time, how old I am in the mission and how short my time truly is, and it made me reflect, ponder, and question if I have - up to this point- done all I needed to do and become all I needed to become. It has made me very pensive this week on what goals I need to have and what things I need to change for the last 7 months so I can make sure I know the answers to those questions when my time is up. It has been the same way with the new training program that we have been studying (it is a focus on the 8 fundamentals of Preach My Gospel (the missionary manual book), the fundamentals are: revelation through church, teach people not lessons, they commit we follow up, revelation through the Book of Mormon, the missionary purpose,... and I can't for the life of me remember the other 3... shows how much I know them huh... haha). It is very sobering and humbling when we get back to basics and I realize exactly how much I lack and how many weaknesses I truly have, but in times like these I am very grateful for the Atonement and the opportunity to change and improve.
I hope that everything is going well for y'all. I miss and love y'all tons! I hope the Lord continues to bless you and your families in all that you do! Go Cougars!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Letters from Kelsey - 45
Hey everyone,
So... I hope y'all had a good Halloween! On Halloween we have to be in the apartment starting at 7:00 pm for the rest of the night, so our Halloween was pretty calm. On Mondays we have weekly planning where we pretty much plan our whole week, who we are going to try and see each day, what we are going to teach them, and we set our goals. We start at 11 and it usually takes us until about 3:30/4:00. Yesterday we started and ended a little early so we could have more time to work. We pretty much just ran missionary errands (stopping by to see people, following up, and trying to set up appointments), and then we met up with the Houston 8 Hermanas for an exchange. Hna. Moser is in Houston until Wednesday afternoon and I have Hna. Worthen with me until the same time, she is in her 3rd transfer but is solid. So exchanges are where we pretty much just switch areas so that we have the opportunity to work with other sisters I guess... I don't really like them- y'all know me... I don't like change, but oh well. Friday night we had our trunk-o-treat with the Pearland Ward, it was a lot of fun and we helped our branch president do a haunted house type thing (they have a carnival thing before the trunk-o-treating). It was a lot of fun and we got to scare the little kids... ha ha.
My mom told me to write more about my companion but I don't know what to write. She is from Southern California, she is in her 4th transfer and we get along pretty well. We always have a good time and we are hoping to stay together for another transfer... but who knows. I don't really know what else to write about her... we are planning to go to Conference together next October if that says anything... sorry Mom... don't know what else to say.
Investigator Weekly, its kind of a lame one this week:
Ena: came to church this week, but canceled our lesson for today but she said she will come to church on Sunday... I have no idea what to do, just be patient I guess and give her some time.
Maria: She is reading and praying and our goal now is to get her to church. We are going over the Restoration today and it should be fun. We are hoping she will accept a baptismal date for November 26th! We will see.
And... thats it. Things are still going good- we just don't have many with a date or many progressing, but we plan to change that this week. Things are good though, I really love the area and the members. I think the best way to explain my area is it really is kinda like Heber. You have neighborhoods like Cobblestone and then right next to them you have a whole bunch of fields with cows, then there is a street with some mobile homes, and they are pretty nice ones. There is the 518 which is the main street of the area and there are grocery stores, Wally world, restaurants... its pretty awesome. Its like the perfect area if you ask me- its a little harder to contact because there is hardly anyone outside but its all good.
Anyway... hope y'all have a good week! Love ya all! I hope the Lord continues to bless you and your families!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
So... I hope y'all had a good Halloween! On Halloween we have to be in the apartment starting at 7:00 pm for the rest of the night, so our Halloween was pretty calm. On Mondays we have weekly planning where we pretty much plan our whole week, who we are going to try and see each day, what we are going to teach them, and we set our goals. We start at 11 and it usually takes us until about 3:30/4:00. Yesterday we started and ended a little early so we could have more time to work. We pretty much just ran missionary errands (stopping by to see people, following up, and trying to set up appointments), and then we met up with the Houston 8 Hermanas for an exchange. Hna. Moser is in Houston until Wednesday afternoon and I have Hna. Worthen with me until the same time, she is in her 3rd transfer but is solid. So exchanges are where we pretty much just switch areas so that we have the opportunity to work with other sisters I guess... I don't really like them- y'all know me... I don't like change, but oh well. Friday night we had our trunk-o-treat with the Pearland Ward, it was a lot of fun and we helped our branch president do a haunted house type thing (they have a carnival thing before the trunk-o-treating). It was a lot of fun and we got to scare the little kids... ha ha.
My mom told me to write more about my companion but I don't know what to write. She is from Southern California, she is in her 4th transfer and we get along pretty well. We always have a good time and we are hoping to stay together for another transfer... but who knows. I don't really know what else to write about her... we are planning to go to Conference together next October if that says anything... sorry Mom... don't know what else to say.
Investigator Weekly, its kind of a lame one this week:
Ena: came to church this week, but canceled our lesson for today but she said she will come to church on Sunday... I have no idea what to do, just be patient I guess and give her some time.
Maria: She is reading and praying and our goal now is to get her to church. We are going over the Restoration today and it should be fun. We are hoping she will accept a baptismal date for November 26th! We will see.
And... thats it. Things are still going good- we just don't have many with a date or many progressing, but we plan to change that this week. Things are good though, I really love the area and the members. I think the best way to explain my area is it really is kinda like Heber. You have neighborhoods like Cobblestone and then right next to them you have a whole bunch of fields with cows, then there is a street with some mobile homes, and they are pretty nice ones. There is the 518 which is the main street of the area and there are grocery stores, Wally world, restaurants... its pretty awesome. Its like the perfect area if you ask me- its a little harder to contact because there is hardly anyone outside but its all good.
Anyway... hope y'all have a good week! Love ya all! I hope the Lord continues to bless you and your families!
Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg
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