A baptism is a great way to end the week.

Dear Everyone:

 

Eliza got baptized this week! And then confirmed on Sunday! Woo!

 

It was wicked awesome. There were a lot of ward members who came out to support her and her friend Casey (who originally introduced Eliza to the church) also came up for it! I don't really know what to say about it really - everything went according to plan. We sang some hymns, a couple talks were given, and covenants were made. Oh, and refreshments were eaten afterwards, of course. This was a Mormon event.

It was so cool though. Eliza was almost literally glowing when she came out of the water. Not in a creepy way, but a filled-with-the-Spirit way. So great to see. And she's also going the Boston temple this coming Saturday to do baptisms there for the first time. She's so solid!

The only other exciting thing that occured this week was that I went on exchanges on Tuesday with none other than my trainer, Sister Buxton! She is now my Sister Training Leader (the Sister missionary who is called to kind of take care and give extra training/support to other Sisters), so she came and spent the day with me in Biddeford, while Sister Dixon and Sister Jackman went to Portland. It was a lot of fun. It was interesting how I was with Sister Buxton about 9 months ago and it felt like yesterday! We were able to go right into teaching together again with no problems. It was good to be with her again.

Life here is good. There's a lot going on in this area - which is both great, and overwhelming at the same time. There's so much potential we almost don't know where to start! None of us really know the area very well yet either - Sister Jackman and I have only been here for 3 weeks now and Sister Dixon had only been here for one transfer before that. So we're all kind of figuring out how this area works and to help it together. The trio is good, a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of patience at the same time. And patience is something that I haven't been blessed with a lot of. So that's definitely something to work on for this week. And probably the week after that as well.

So, the Mormon Message for this week is one that we showed during Eliza's baptism. While she was drying off we showed a couple videos and I really liked this one. It's all about the Book of Mormon - what's not to like? Go watch it and think about how cool it is that we have the Book of Mormon on earth today, and how much it can bless our lives if we let it!

 

Love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

Walking to Damascus

Dear Everyone:

 

I'm pretty sure this has been the fastest week on my mission so far. I feel like I just wrote an e-mail yesterday!

First item of business - Eliza passed her baptism interview and is set to go for this Saturday! We're so excited!

A little bit of background on her: Eliza is 17 years old and awesome. She was introduced to the church through a friend of hers, who was baptized about 2 years ago. Her friend lives in a town about 30 minutes away, outside of our area, but she drove down here a couple months ago to take Eliza to church so she could meet the missionaries. And the Sisters have been teaching Eliza ever since. She's so cool - whenever we teach she just kind of soaks in everything we're telling her. We saw her on Saturday and we were talking about the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost (same thing, different names), and the differences in how it can influence you before being baptized and recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it influences your life afterwards. It was so cool to hear about how she had recieved a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the church and the Book of Mormon were true.

Something else really cool that happened this week. Yesterday, Sunday, we had a 'cottage meeting' at our ward mission leader's (the Smith's) house. A cottage meeting is essentially dinner, a spiritual messsage, and then dessert. Super casual, super low-key, just a fun opportunity to get together with people, get to know people, and talk about the Gospel.

There were a few investigators there, a couple less-active members, and a few active members. As well as the three of us and the Elders in our ward. We ate dinner, then Brother and Sister Smith showed us a couple Mormon Messages. The first one was probably my favorite. It was one called "Waiting on Our Road to Damascus", which is so cool. It's all about Saul, and his conversion while walking on the road to Damascus. It then talked about how each of us are walking on our own road to Damascus, and the importance of recognizing those things that help bring about our own conversion. After showing the video, the Smiths kind of opened the floor for comments, questions, etc. It was miraculous; a lot of the people there shared their own conversion story, and it was amazing to see the different ways the Spirit speaks to people. Long time members, recent converts, active members, less-active members, investigators - everyone had their own conversion story! And the part that stood out to me most about all the different stories people shared were that although everyone had different experiences, they were similar at the same time. And one of the biggest similarities is that no one had an angel appear to them. All too often I think people expect some big, wonderous, huge sign, a giant billboard that pops up on our drive home saying "YES, THIS IS TRUE." But that rarely happens.

It just reminded me of Alma the Younger, in the Book of Mormon. Alma was a punk, who was going around doing terrible things. Eventually, he had an angel appear to him, who told him to knock it off because he could be so much better. And Alma did change. He became an amazing prophet! But the coolest thing about Alma is that he didn't change and become converted because an angel told him to. It definitely was a wake up call for him, but then, in Alma chapter 5, verses 45-48 Alma tells exactly what it was that caused his conversion. It wasn't the angel; it was study, and prayer, and fasting. So just the little things that are kind of easy to forget were the things that turned Alma, who was a horrible person, into a prophet!

Kind of mind-blowing, isn't it?

So, that's my insight for this week. Don't forget the little things. Because, after all, it's the little things that help prepare us for the big things.

Now go read your scriptures.

 

Love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

Hace Frio Trio!

Dear Everyone:

I'm back in Maine! And right on the coast! Saco, Maine, to be exact. I love it already!

And even more exciting news - I'm in a trio! So I've got two new companions - Sister Dixon and Sister Jackman. They both have been out for about 7 1/2 months, and Sister Dixon has been here in Saco for a transfer. It's been a lot of fun so far.

I'm excited to be back in Maine - I wasn't here long enough last time. And this area is on fire! We have a few solid investigators and one of our investigators, Eliza, is getting baptized February 1st! 

I love reaping the rewards of other missionaries' labors.

The ward here is probably the smallest I've served in so far, but they're so missionary motivated. I spoke in church yesterday and met a lot of new people. It's very weird, going from a ward where I knew everyone so well to a ward where I don't know anyone. I kind of forgot what it's like to be new in an area. I'm excited to go though, and we've been doing our best to hit the ground running. Saco is a lot more populated than Montpelier was, so there's a lot of work to be done.

Honestly, this last week has all kind of been a blur.

Yesterday was wonderful though. There's a family in the ward here who whenever there's a new missionary in the ward they make cookies and then drive the missionaries around to all their investigators so they can meet people. It snowed pretty hard all day Saturday and Sunday, so they weren't able to drive us around, but they made us cookies to take to people, and we were able to go and meet with 6 different investigators and potentials. It was awesome! I'm loving it.

Earlier this week we had what people here call the 'January Thaw'. We had about 4 days of 40-50 degree weather, and it was beautiful! We went running in the mornings, took pictures on the beach, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Then, Saturday morning it started snowing and we had 6 or 7 inches by the end of the day.

Thaw over.

But, like I said earlier, we've been staying really busy. And it's lovely. There's nothing like getting home exhausted at the end of everyday. Definitely helps you sleep better at night.

Well, that's the update for this week. Stay warm everyone!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

To ye, Montpelier, I bid adieu.

Dear Everyone:

So, it's official. I'm leaving Montpelier. It's been a good run - almost 6 whole months. But, tomorrow I'll head down to Manchester and I'll be shipped off to some other mystery destination.

I'm actually pretty stoked.

It was really hard though, saying goodbye to people yesterday. I love this ward. The members are amazing. And we had an investigator come to church yesterday too! So it's sad at the same time.

I'm excited though. To see where I go next. I'm really hoping I'll go back to Maine. Maybe the coast this time - it'd be freezing this time of year, but it'd be awesome at the same time.

Anyway, our investigator at church yesterday. Brittany. I talked a little about her last week. She's super nice. We've only taught her twice, but she came to church! I think she liked it... hopefully she continues to progress and Sister Burton and whoever my replacement is keep teaching her!

SUPER CRAZY story from this week though. So, Anthony has been meeting with the Elders for the past couple weeks. He lives in their area, and so it's easier for them to teach him than us. He's going through a lot of health problems and we think he had a little bit of a breakdown because of all the medications that he's on, and that's why he bailed on his last baptism date. But, he's been more stable over the past few weeks. And he decided that he did still really want to get baptized. So the Elders had planned a baptism for two Saturdays ago (January 3rd), but Anthony ended up being in the hospital, so it didn't happen. BUT, he got released on Monday. So the Elders went and visited him Tuesday night, Anthony was talking about how sad he was that he wasn't able to be baptized and that he was sad he had to wait longer (he was going back into the hospital on Friday). So then Elder Quinn thought for a second and said, "Well, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

So, Anthony got baptized on Wednesday! It was so awesome! This picture is of Sister Burton and I with him. It was an awesome night - there were a ton of ward members who came, even though it was super short notice. And the Spirit was so strong and Anthony was so excited! It was amazing!

One other crazy story from this week - we were driving to a dinner appointment on Friday night down Vermont highway 14 - a long, lonely stretch of road. Suddenly, we noticed a dog running around in the road in front of us. Naturally, we slowed down and realized there was another dog lying in the road - it had been hit by a car. Another car behind us stopped as well, and we were there for about 30 minutes making sure the other dog didn't get hit, the dog in the road didn't get hit again, and trying to find out who/where the owner was, since the dogs didn't have collars on.

Luckily, we eventually found them, and the dog was picked up and taken to the vet. I think it survived, but made for an interesting night.

This week was more eventful than most. It was a fitting goodbye. I'm gonna miss Montpelier and all the craziness and weirdness that it contains, but I'm excited to go somewhere new as well.

I'll let you all know where I end up next week!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

2014.

Dear Everyone:

So New Year's this year was a little crazy... We went to a New Year's Eve party at the most wild place in town  - the senior citizen center! There's no better way to spend an evening than with 85 year olds! It really was a lot of fun, and we met a lot of great people as well.

This week was really really really cold though. We had a blizzard on Thursday, and I think the high on Saturday was -15. Toasty. 2014 came in with a vengeance. But this week is supposed to be warmer, so that's good.

We finally found a new investigator this week! Her name is Brittany and she's 23. We met her at the library doing service one day. She has a cat, loves wolves, and loves reading - especially reading books about wolves to her cat. She's awesome. She's didn't grow up very religious though, so she doesn't really know much about God or Christ or anything. It'll be really interesting to teach her, but we're excited.

Not much else to report. We spent a lot of time walking around and once again, trying to find people. This week will be super busy though - we've managed to get a meal with members for every night! We're super excited because President Stoker has really placed a ton of emphasis on working through the members and the only way we'll be able to do that is if we get to know them. I know a lot of the members really well, but Sister Burton doesn't. And we're having dinner with a few members who I've never been to visit, so it'll be great.

That's all for this week. Transfer calls are Saturday night and I'm about 90% sure I'm getting transferred. But it's not a for sure. Stay tuned, and I'll report back next week :)

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

For Christmas this year, Vermont got precipitation.

Dear Everyone:

Christmas was awesome! I hope everyone had as splendid a Christmas as Sister Burton and I did! It started by us pulling our mattresses out of our bedroom and sleeping on the floor of the living room on Christmas Eve. Then, Christmas morning, instead of exercising, we opened presents! Then we went to a member's house, Sister Garland, for breakfast. Her only daughter lives across the country, so Sister Garland adopted us for the day and invited us over for breakfast.

Then we had district meeting with the Elders in our ward and the Elders and Sisters from Burlington. President Stoker had moved district meeting to Tuesday this week (because we typically have it on Wednesdays) but we wanted to still have it on Christmas, so we got special permission to not move it. So we had an awesome lesson all about faith, then we had lunch together (we made Cafe Rio!) and had a white elephant gift exchange!

Then Sister Burton and I went to another family's house, the Young's. They're an awesome family in the ward, one of my favorites, so we were excited to spend Christmas with them! We were able to use their computers to skype our families so that was awesome. Then we had dinner with them - some kind of European dish where you melt cheese, then pour it on potatoes. That's about it. It was delicious.

Other than that, the week wasn't too eventful. We met this one girl, Brittany, who has a lot of potential. We're meeting with her tomorrow so hopefully she'll turn into a new investigator - finally!

We also went to a really fun Yankee Swap (White Elephant for all you westerners) party on Saturday. The Goodrich's are a family in the ward, and President Goodrich is also in our mission presidency. They had a Christmas party for a lot of their friends and family (almost none of whom are members) and invited a few of us missionaries as well. It was a ton of fun - we swapped presents, ate a lot of food with maple syrup/maple sugar in it (the Goodrich's are maple farmers), and met a lot of really great people. Unfortunately, they all live in the Elder's area, so we won't really see them again, unless they come to church. But it was still a great experience!

Last night we went to a member meal in Waterbury, which is the opposite end of our area from Northfield, the town where we live. We have very few miles left for the month (we have a limit on how many miles we can go in our car each month, and we have none left), so we decided to use our GPS to find the shortest route home, rather than take the highway.

But, trusting a GPS isn't always the smartest thing to do. So we ended up in the middle of nowhere on a back road that all of a sudden ended in a big pile of snow. While it was snowing. Of course, we had to document the experience, so that's what the picture is this week. Me, lost somewhere between Middlesex and Moretown, Vermont. No worries though, we made it out alive. And it's probably good that we're out of miles, because it rained and then snowed all weekend, so now everything is super icy. And driving on ice is never a good idea.

So that was this week. I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas! I am so grateful for everyone who sent me letters and gifts - you guys are the best! Have a wonderful New Year, and make some resolutions that will help you become a better person this year! I don't mean the cliche resolution to lose 20 pounds like everyone always makes, I mean something that will really help you to improve your life! Think about that one, long and hard, and make it count! Maybe watch this video for some ideas? Apply it to your life this year! It'll improve your life like you wouldn't believe!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

Happy Christmas Harry.

Dear Everyone:

I really hope you all get the Harry Potter reference in the subject.

Anyway, this week was pretty mellow. We were basically the only area in Vermont that didn't get covered with ice this weekend. So that was good. We also had Zone Interviews on Wednesday and that was really fun. Then, on top of that, we had exchanges so I spent a day in Rutland, Vermont!

So I guess this week was actually pretty eventful.

Other than that though, not a whole bunch has been happening. We've been trying to talk to people like crazy and we've found a few people who have some potential, but no solid investigators yet.

We had the ward Christmas potluck on Friday and it was a blast! I'm attaching a picture of Sister Burton and I in our festive Santa hats...

The potluck was packed though. We even had Troy, a less active that we've been working with, playing Santa! It was awesome. Best Santa ever.

Well, sorry that this week's e-mail is so short. I'm kind of bad at managing my e-mail time. My bad.

But I hope everyone has a marvelous Christmas! Don't forget the reason why we're celebrating it - because of Jesus Christ!

Thank you to everyone who has sent me a card or a package. I really do have the best friends and family back home :)

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg