The Sweet Spot

Alma 32: 42

“And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”

Family and Friends!

There are some weeks you have where you might feel like a piece of gum. Like the world just took you, chewed you up, and spit you back out. And then there are weeks where everything just seems to be so sweet, like biting into a delicious pear. Last week I felt like a piece of gum, but this week I can say I was having fun and enjoying The Sweet Spots of my mission.

Last week the Ghana Accra Mission and the Ghana Accra West Mission had the opportunity of hearing an Apostle of the Lord teach us and show us what we can do to improve in our work as missionaries. As Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke with us, he asked many questions, giving the opportunity for missionaries to comment. As each missionary stood, he asked them how long they had been on their missions. The answer varied for each missionary. They said they had been out for 3 months, 11 months, 13 months (like myself), or even 20 months. And to every missionary Elder Stevenson said, "Oh wow. You are in the sweet spot of your mission!" Of all the things that he taught us, the greatest thing that I picked from him was his ability to see each day as an opportunity to find those who need to be helped personally by you. As we live each day like this, we develop a desire to be more and to serve more. We truly see each day as an opportunity to go and do. Each day brings new challenges, new triumphs, new people and new knowledge to be gained. You see each day is your own little spot of sweet. Elder Stevenson taught me that no matter where we are in our mission or in our life, we are living in the Sweet Spot.

This week Elder Hanberg and I were enjoying the sweet spot. Because of time I will talk about the most precious moment to me, and that was seeing two of our dear friends choose to come unto Christ by being baptized. Brother Samuel Addo and his daughter Valentia Addo were baptized this Sunday. It was so special to me to see as these two children of our Heavenly Father faithfully pressed forward in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We met Brother Addo only 5 weeks ago. Valentia came to Church with a member family. We were introduced to her and set up a day to meet her at her home. That next week, we met her family and her father Brother Addo. In our second lesson we invited him to come to Church, which he accepted. Elder Hanberg and I were overjoyed as we saw him walk into the Meeting House, proudly holding his Book of Mormon. The second Sunday he came to Church our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Isaac, gave him a copy of the Gospel Principles book. The next time we met him in his home he had studied several chapters and knew that everything that he had read was true. He had prayed about it. Brother Addo only had one question, "Elders, what is a D&C?" We explained that it was the Doctrine of the Church and included many of the Covenants we make. Hence the name, Doctrine and Covenants or D&C. Immediately he said, "Then I need to get one of these books so that I can study it, because I will be a member soon." After only 4 weeks he wanted to be baptized with his daughter. It was special to see them standing by the baptismal font together, both dressed in white, and ready to show their love for their Savior, even by following His example. It truly is sweet to have experiences such as these. As missionaries we work diligently each day to find and teach those who are prepared to come unto Christ. Many people are not yet ready and even turn you away. But the moments like the one we had with Brother Addo and Valentia this week was worth all of the work and patience we have given. Just as Alma teaches, as long as we show our faith by working diligently with patience, we will taste the fruit that is "sweet above all that is sweet."

Elder Hanberg and I have been seeing miracles here! It has been said that I am in the sweet spot of my mission. I have been out for a few months and I have a good understanding of what we teach and how to teach it. Truly it is sweet! I sometimes think that many of you are experiencing "sweet spots" in your own lives. I'll speak of my dear parents, who I love, as an example. For the past year my parents have been living as "empty nesters." This is a very accurate term for those who have had a very full nest which suddenly seems to be empty. The nest is left for just the two parents. Some people might see this as a boring time or sad in some way, as they have lost a large piece of their entertainment (high school is an entertaining time, I must say). But my parents always express how fun it is! They find new ways to enjoy together. They have time to grow as friends. They must be creative and find ways to do more work with fewer hands. It is a sweet spot to them. My oldest sister is living in Texas with her husband and 3 beautiful girls. The girls love helping Tanae and Garrett work together on their patience, love, and endurance, what a sweet spot! My brother is now a newlywed going to Medical School. Garin and Morgan are both working but still find time to grow in love, what a sweet spot! My middle sister is raising her darling little girl while her husband is in harvest. Mattie and Andrew serve and care for each other through it all, what a sweet spot! The youngest sister is at college, working, dating and preparing for her future employment. There is a lot of pressure for Dayna but she always smiles, what a sweet spot! Wherever you are, whatever you are going through, as we open our hearts to Christ, every moment can be a sweet spot for us.

I love and thank you all for your support.

PREPARE IT

Mi Kwaba,

Elder Bergeson

Baptism of Valentia and Mr. Addo

Dancing the Kpalago 

(the fishermen pulling the net)

Conference with Elder Stevenson

Enjoying some delicious food at the 

Conference

Let Us Be Faithful

Kaden is doing well. He wrote me and said that some investigators gave him some water to drink and he has been sick from the bad water but he is on the mend now. Also, his camera is broke so he hasn't been able to send any pictures but his companion actually took a really short video of him dancing which I attached to this email. 

Thank you for the many prayers offered in behalf of all the missionaries serving all over the world. It amazes me how many are serving at this time and wonderful miracles happening. 

1 Nephi 7: 12

 

“Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.”

 

Mi Abusia, me pacho why.

My Family, forgive me okay. I want to thank each of you for the strength you have given me as I've been serving as a missionary. When I think of you I remember that I am not the only one to pass through what I am passing through, and that many of you are also struggling through more difficult trials than I am. You give me strength to continue and a knowledge that all will be well in the end. I am continuing to enjoy serving with my companion Elder Hanberg in our Area, Agbogba. We love the members here and the many friendships we have made. As we serve them we feel all of us coming closer to our Heavenly Father and it is the greatest blessing to experience. 

 

Elder Hanberg and I have been witnessing miracles here! We got a call one night as we were getting home to prepare dinner, it was from one of our dear member friends Sister Naomi. She had introduced us to a family a few months ago; a mother and her two sons, Eva, Patrick and Joseph. Patrick was baptized in our Ward and Eva had been to Church a few times but has not been able to meet with us for some time because she had become so busy with work. She is a seamstress and work does not always come. But when the work does come for them here, they jump on the opportunity, not knowing when their next job will be. Sister Naomi called us and told us that Eva was suffering severe back pain and that she wanted the Elders to come to give her a blessing. She had done all she could to relieve the pain but it was not going as it usually did. Elder Hanberg and I grabbed our sandals and hopped on our bicycles to go see our friend Eva. She was not doing well. We had Sister Naomi give us a prayer and explain to her that we would give her a blessing and that she would be blessed according to her faith. She understood well and Elder Hanberg performed the anointing and I followed with a Priesthood Blessing. As you rely on the Spirit, you will touch the hearts of those you are blessing. Towards the end of the blessing I remember feeling Eva nod her head slightly as if faithfully affirming that she knew that what I was being prompted to say would come true. As we left her that evening I knew that we had healed her heart, and that was the greatest blessing. We met her the next afternoon and she was strong and healthy again. As we trust in the Lord with all our heart, we can have faith that He will bless us according to His will. 

 

I've come to have a family here in Agbogba, a Ward family. You know that you are close with them when they invite you to do a cultural dance with them in a Stake Competition. Adenta Stake was having a Cultural Activity that each of the 13 Wards/Branches of the Stake were invited to. I was invited to dance with my Ward and we danced the Kpalago. The Kpalago is a dance of the Ga's, the tribe of Accra. They are a fishing tribe so the dance goes something along those lines. And through it all the women are shaking their bottoms. I'll just throw that in now and try to imagine it. I have never seen a Relief Society President move herself quite like Sister Sheri can. And there is no greater shaker than our Young Women's President, Sister Fianko. It was so much fun to see all of them just move and show the culture of Ghana so well. There were 5 women and 5 men. The women walk in carrying their bowls on their head, preparing to go and get the fish that the fishermen bring in. Then the 5 men walk in, dressed as fishermen, carrying their net. We wore short shorts, a nice big sun hat, and a flower button up shirt. We set our net and then pull the fish in. The women come and we give them the fish. Then as they are going to sell, we see how beautiful they are. We do our best to fix our hair but the women go to sell anyway. Then we decide to go and change. We remove our flower shirts, and put on a white shirt, bowtie, and suspenders. And then we go and try to dance and impress the ladies. They deny us a few times but we finally catch one! :) And then we dance with them away. We have one solo part and my move was to shave off the back side of my partner, Sister Milicent, because it was "too big". The whole crowd loved to see a white man dancing like a Ghanaian and we enjoyed learning that culture.

 

This week I learned of faithfulness and exercising faith. I had been a bit sick so I was not able to jump rope as I had usually done. Well this morning I jumped rope for my normal amount of time and I about died, because I had been lazy and had not been maintaining the strength that I had had. This applies to showing our faithfulness. If we are not careful we might get distracted and forget the purpose of our lives. I pray that we will not forget. Remember who you are, and remember who those around you are. Love them, pray for them, and serve them. They are often praying to God for someone to help them and you could be that person. But we must be faithful. As we are faithful we will have the strength, the courage, the desire to become more. We will trust in our Savior. We will love our Savior. And in return we will feel His love and trust. Whatever comes to us, always remember Him and be faithful to Him and those that have helped us as He has.

Let us be faithful.

PREPARE IT

Mi Kwaba,

Elder Bergeson