Hoping for another lucky week... and not just for the Irish.

Dear Everyone:

This week was great! Abby got baptized! It was an amazing baptism! There were so many people!

Her family and a couple of her friends came, as well as quite a few ward members. A member of our mission presidency, President Hawkes and his wife were able to come as well! President Hawkes was the one who interviewed Abby, and he said he was so impressed by her in the interview that he had to come to her baptism as well.

The Spirit was just so strong at the baptism. It was wonderful. I gave the talk on baptism, then Abby was actually baptized - by none other than Brother Farmer, who had first introduced her to the church! It was the first baptism he had ever done as well, so it was a cool experience all around. As she was getting ready we showed the Restoration video - and you really have to try hard not to feel the Spirit during that movie. After that Sister Jackman gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and then President Hawkes spoke, and then Bishop Bryant. So it was really fun.

On Saturday we had Zone Interviews! They were a blast as well. I had an amazing interview with President Stoker, then we had 'zone meeting'. That's where the zone leaders (a couple of the Elders, and here they happen to be our wardmates) present some kind of training. Typically, this meeting isn't overly exciting. So the Elders tried to spice it up this time with a game show theme, complete with a disco ball borrowed from someone in the ward and sound effects supplied by the ringtones on their phone. It really was hilarious though, and one of the better trainings I've been to.

We also had Stake Conference this weekend! There were so many great talks given there, I don't think I could even do them justice if I tried to sum them up for you all. Just go to your own stake conference and I'm sure they'll be almost as good :) The stake here (each ward, or congregation is part of a larger group called a stake) covers from Augusta south - roughly half of Maine. Not only did I get to see some old favorites from the Augusta ward, but it was also kind of empowering to gather together with so many members of the church here. Something about a lot of people who believe the same thing all coming together just gives me goosebumps. Maybe it's the Spirit?

One cool things from my studies this week - I'm currently in the book of Alma, right in the middle of the war chapters. All kinds of crazy things are going on with some of my favorite people, Captain Moroni, Teancum, Helaman, etc. And some more of my favorite people are the 2,000 Stripling Warriors - 2,000 guys who are probably 18-21 year old kids who are trying to help defend their families and their country. In Alma chapter 57 they were just in a huge battle with the bad guys, the Lamanites. And the stripling warriors are very outnumbered. However, since they have God on their side, they win! Helaman, their commander, is worried though, because all 2,000 of his men were novices. And he's sure that many of them have been killed. Then, in verse 25 we read something miraculous - NO ONE DIED. Not one of the stripling warriors (2,060 of them to be exact) was killed. All of them were wounded in some way, but no one was killed.

This totally applies to our life now! We're all in battle! And the reality is that none of us will make it out unscathed. We've all been wounded in some way - and we'll be wounded again. However, because Christ is the Master Healer, we can be healed from all our wounds! Spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, whatever. Through faith in Him and His Atonement, we can be healed!

Seriously you guys. The Gospel is amazing.

Well, that's it for this week. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

P.S. The picture is from - no surprise here - Abby's baptism! There's me, Abby, Brother Farmer, and Sister Jackman. Sometimes you try really hard to take a nice picture, and then the only picture that turns out somewhat decent looking is the one where no one's serious. It happens.

Rapping up a storm.

Dear Everyone:

 

This week was pretty good. Awesome news - Abby passed her baptism interview! She's all set to get baptized tomorrow, and we're super excited! Unfortunately, it'll be about a week before she's confirmed though; converts are confirmed in sacrament meeting after the baptism, and we have Stake Conference this weekend. So she won't get confirmed until the next week. Everything is set to go for tomorrow though, and we're stoked! I'm so excited for Abby - she's worked so hard to get to this point and I can't wait to see the blessings Heavenly Father has in store for her!

You guys. Being a missionary is awesome. Sometimes I feel like Ammon does, after his mission to the Lamanites. Look up Alma chapter 26 and read about it - it's a great feeling!

Besides that, our week was been pretty tame. Sister Jackman and I are working on contacting a lot of less-actives, as well as trying to find new people to teach. Other than Abby, we aren't teaching anyone who's very solid. We aren't really teaching anyone else at all. We're really focusing a lot of finding this week though, so hopefully it'll work out and we'll find more people to help bring unto Christ!

Another highlight from this last week - Saturday night was the annual Saco Ward Talent Show/Silent Auction. It was just like they used to do it in the Mill Road Ward when I was little - lots of baked goods for sale to help raise money for scout camp/girls camp, a couple little kids singing 'I Am a Child of God' for their talent, and a whole lot of laughs. The show also included original raps by us and the Elders, although one of the Elders can beatbox, so they kind of showed us up. The night ended on a high note with the Young Men Presidency and one of the young men reenacting a beloved scene from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' involving a vicious rabbit and a holy hand grenade.

Overall, it made for a great night. We also got to meet a lot of people since a lot of the ward members invited family and friends to come as well. I would definitely dub it a success.

That's about all for this week though. We have Zone Interviews this weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. The weather has been super nice the last few days - I even ventured to go out without tights one day and didn't regret it at all. However, there's supposed to be another blizzard coming on Wednesday, so spring continues to be elusive. Someday the sun will come.

I love you all!

 

 

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

Another week sharing the gospel.

Dear Everyone:

So, not much to report this week. Life is good. Abby is still getting baptized next week! She quit smoking last week and has been staying strong! She's truly amazing.

Other than that, I don't really have much else to share. We've been trying to get our bearings a little bit, and figure out how to work in this area. The fact that Sister Jackman and I got here together is pretty nice - we're on the same page for the most part in trying to get to know people. The ward here is awesome, but hard to get to know. We also aren't quite as busy as when we first got here. Most of last transfer I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off - running around from place to place and not really taking much in. We aren't completely sure what changed, but things have been much easier going lately, which is actually really nice. It's given us a chance to slow down, catch our breath, and figure out what we really want to accomplish here in Saco.

Hopefully we'll get our bearings and create a solid game plan, so that we can start running around like crazy again. We're trying to start going visiting teaching with the ward members - a lot of the women in the ward have people on their lists who they've never met and they know nothing about. And it's kind of intimidating to try and visit teach someone who you don't know. So we're trying to help with that and get some relationships going. That'll help our work as well, so that we can get in the homes of some people who we might not otherwise have been able to get in with. There's so much potential here and the Lord has blessed this area so much in the past - if we just keep working hard I know He'll continue to bless us with more people to teach!

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the month. Which typically means it was fast and testimony meeting at church - aka, open mic! It's no different here in Saco, and we had some great testimonies this week. One was from this older lady who got baptized about a year ago. Marge. She's a sweetie. One of those grumpy old ladies that seems so hard and spiky on the outside, but just a big softie on the inside. She lives in a retirement community down the street from the church building. In her testimony she talked about how she used to sit in front of her window and watch all the people go to church, and how she would think "I wish I had a church to go to." She would see all the families there and she would think "I wish I had a family here." And then she talked about how her mechanic (who happens to be our ward mission leader) gave her a Book of Mormon. And then sent the Elders over to talk to her. And now she's baptized, she has a church to go to every Sunday, and she has a family - her ward family! It was probably one of the sweetest testimonies I've ever heard. She talked about how she had felt more love and more happiness in her life over the past year since she's joined then church than she has ever before. Isn't it great how the gospel blesses people's lives in so many ways??

Life is good. Maine is cold. Missions are great. The Church is true. The Atonement is eternal. And Heavenly Father loves all of us.

That's it for this week. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

P.S. We saw this license plate on a truck today. I was meant to be here. 

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Dear Everyone:

Sad news this week. Only part of the trio survived. Sister Dixon is leaving us :( However, Sister Jackman and I will rock Saco! It'll be great!

There's always good news with bad news though. One of our investigators, Abby, is getting baptized!

Abby is super awesome. She's 22 and started taking the lessons right before Sister Jackman and I got here. Her dad's best friend is a member of the ward here - Brother Farmer. One day, Brother Farmer went over to Abby's house and saw her reading some kind of book or something about God, and when he asked her about it she said she had recently become interested in religion. He said "Well you don't need any of that stuff! Just come to church with me!"

So she did. And the first time she went, it was a fast and testimony meeting. And she stood up and bore her testimony!

This girl is rock solid.

She's been to church basically every week since then, she comes to our Book of Mormon class on Tuesday nights, and she also brought her mom to a Relief Society cooking class we had last Saturday.

We're super stoked for her. The date is March 11th - which is really soon. But she is so prepared. It's people like Abby who, sometimes when things get hard, help me remember why I'm out here. And they help me remember how much the gospel really does bless lives. Even in just the short almost-2 months that I've known Abby, she's grown a lot. It's amazing to see!

One big reason that I'm pretty sure Abby has progressed so much is that she's awesome at reading her scriptures. She started the Book of Mormon from the beginning about a week and a half ago, and she's already in 2 Nephi! There's a huge difference between the people we're teaching who sincerely want to let Christ in their life, and those who are doing it more passively. Those who are sincere experience so much more change, so much more quickly!

It's interesting though, because this change and growth doesn't just come to those who are learning about Christ or the gospel for the first time. It applies to all of us. It reminds me of a series of videos on mormon.org, called 'Daily Bread'. There's 3 of them: Pattern, Experience, and Change.

Which is on purpose I'm sure, because first we need to establish a pattern of something, then we'll gain experience from that, and then the change will come over time.

The series is Elder D. Todd Christofferson, talking about why it's so vital that we take time to work on our spiritual side, our relationship with Christ every day. I know I've noticed on my mission the difference in my growth the times that I've really focused on my studies versus the times when I've gotten a little lax. There's a huge difference! The hard part is that we rarely notice the difference right away. Change is subtle. And we're constantly changing. The hard part is making sure we're changing for good!

So watch the videos. They're awesome.

Well, that's all for this week kids. Stay warm!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

P.S. Photo for the week - Sister Jackman, Sister Dixon and I at the temple last week! This was right before we went in, and right before the blizzard hit.

I'd walk through a blizzard to go to the temple any day.

Dear Everyone:

Super short e-mail this week. Life is good. We've been getting lots and lots of snow.

Like today.

First, the best thing ever happened - we went to the temple today!! I'll send a picture next week. But, then we had a bit of an adventure getting back to Saco. Because of the blizzard currently attacking the east coast (it's still snowing as I type this), the drive that only took us an hour and 20 minutes down took us about 4 and a half hours to get back.

But it was totally worth it. Because the temple is amazing.

Suggested reading for this week? Doctrine and Covenants Section 109. It was the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple and it's amazing to read! And, if anyone doesn't really know much about temples, or you just want a reminder, watch this video all about temples and why they're so cool!

So that's the e-mail for this week. I love the temple. I'm so happy we were able to go today. You just feel so at peace in the temple. Even just pulling into the parking lot - it's like all my cares were gone, just for the couple hours we were there. It was absolutely worth the 4 hour car ride in a blizzard home. I never appreciated the temples when I was at home. Living in Utah, especially while I was at BYU, there were so many temples within an hour drive! And people here consider themselves lucky that the Boston temple is only an hour and a half away! Definitely makes me grateful and excited for all the opportunities I'll have to attend the temple when I get home!

Transfer calls are this weekend. I'll let you all know if the trio survives next week :)

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

Zone Conference, blizzards, and big news!

Dear Everyone:

 

This week was full of snow, learning, and excitement!

We had a couple big snow storms this week. Wednesday it snowed all day long, really bad. So our cars were grounded. We had an appointment with a really solid couple though, who had come to church twice already, and we didn't want to cancel. So, we decided to walk! They live about 2 1/2 miles away, not too bad, and it was really fun on the way there. The walk back after the lesson however, was not quite as fun.

We were a little bit cold. However, we survived, and isn't walking a few miles in the snow what missionary work is all about??

We also had Zone Conference this week. So all the missionaries in Maine got together for a big meeting. It was really fun - the meeting was in Augusta, so I got to see a few people from the Augusta ward again, which was awesome!

The topic of zone conference this time was a talk called "The Fourth Missionary". It's by Lawrence E. Corbridge, who is a member of the Seventy. He gave the talk while he was serving as a mission president in Chile. (The talk isn't on lds.org... however he did give this talk in General Conference a few years ago, and it talks about a lot of the same kind of things.) "The Fourth Missionary" talks about how we can become the best missionary we can be - how we can make our mission something that impacts our life forever.

Elder Corbridge described 4 kinds of missionaries: the first two are disobedient, not very good. The last two, the third and fourth missionaries, are both good missionaries who do a lot of good and get a lot done. However, the fourth missionary learns a lot more and gets a lot more out of his mission, even though there's only one real difference between the two. The difference? The fourth missionary gives his heart to the Lord.

Sounds like a small difference, but the results are huge! We spent a lot of time talking about what it really means to give your heart to the Lord, and essentially, what I got out of it, is that it comes down to your attitude.

In life we are constantly asked to do things. Things we enjoy, things we despise, we constantly have things to do. But, our attitude has a huge impact on what we learn from those things!

The third missionary doesn't really want to do a lot of things the mission involves, but he does them anyway. He doesn't really enjoy his mission, he mostly accomplishes things and works out of a sense of duty. Since he still works hard, he's still successful - to a degree. However, he doesn't learn as much as he would have if he had a desire to do those things a mission involves.

And that's the key. It applies to every aspect of life as well. If you take a class because it's required for your major and you hate every day of it, you're not going to learn very much. But, if you study because you want to learn and grow, you'll not only do better in the class, you'll learn and retain a lot more information! If you wake up everyday with the perspective that you 'have' to go to work, you'll dread your job. If you have the attitude that it's a privilege to go to work, you'll love your job!

That's the point of the fourth missionary. And that's how it applies to all of us. Elder Corbridge said it best in the fourth missionary talk, and he said it in his talk in general conference. He said: "The Lord’s way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel. “There is an opposition in all things,” everywhere, for everyone. Life is hard for all of us, but life is also simple. We have only two choices. We can either follow the Lord and be endowed with His power and have peace, light, strength, knowledge, confidence, love, and joy, or we can go some other way, any other way, whatever other way, and go it alone—without His support, without His power, without guidance, in darkness, turmoil, doubt, grief, and despair. And I ask, which way is easier? . . . Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and you will make it."

So that's the question for this week. What way have we chosen? I know I've been thinking about that a lot this week. What my attitude is. Am I choosing to be happy, or am I waiting for others to make me happy? Because there's no reason for me to not be happy, right now, today. If I'm not willing to let the Lord and the gospel change me, it's not going to change me. I have to let Him guide me, and that's how I'll grow. I like simple, so I think I'm gonna choose the Lord's way. That's the only way that really brings happiness, after all.

Speaking of happiness, here's where I'm revealing the big news from this week: we get to go to the temple!!

Previously, missionaries here in the New Hampshire Manchester mission were only allowed to go to the temple at the end of our mission, because the closest one is in Boston, which is outside our mission boundaries. However, President Stoker is the man, and he managed to get the rule changed so that now we get to go every 6 months! We've already found a ride to go, and so we're going next Tuesday! We have to change our P-day, so I'll e-mail next Tuesday instead of Monday, but it's totally worth it.

Well, that's all for this week. It's been pretty good. It's crazy - I get home in exactly 6 months from this week. Time has gone by so fast!! I can't even believe it!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg

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