What a fun Mother's Day treat for me to hear Kaden's voice and his
African accent! He is doing great and really enjoys working hard to serve the
Ghanaian people. Our Father in Heaven knew the place he needed to be, I have no
doubt. He fits right in and is positive and happy. His testimony of faith,
courage and perseverance touches me and I see blessings in his life and our
lives as He does his best to serve on this mission. Thank you for all the
prayers you offer in his behalf and all those who are serving missions at this
time all over the world. Enjoy his email! Love, Janet
Alma 32: 21
And now as I said concerning faith - faith is not to have a
perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things
which are not seen, which are true.
Ma dam fo, etisen? (My friend, how are you?)
I pray that you are all doing well. I know how my family is
because I had the opportunity to talk to my mother yesterday. I am eternally
grateful to my Heavenly Father for sending me to such a wonderful woman. Her
example to me of love, charity, patience, endurance, humility is something I will
always keep in my heart. But the thing that impresses me most about my mother
is her FAITH. Each day I experience disappointments but my mind always turns to
my mother and father, and my Savior. I think about how they would react
and I follow their example. I know that my mom is not perfect, I know that she
falls short sometimes, just as each of us do. Nevertheless, I know that
my mother has Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She has Faith that if she
follows Him that she will find true joy and that she can one day be made
perfect. Even though many times we think our mothers "have a perfect
knowledge of things," I know that they walk by Faith, leading us back to
our Father in Heaven. Thank you to all mothers and future mothers for your Christ-like
sacrifice as you follow and lead with Faith. I love you mom.
Now to the week. First off, Elder Ferrell and I had a very
humbling experience with two evangelists from a Christian faith. Last week we
had a man named David stop us and tell us that he was an evangelist of Christ
and that he wanted us to come by to do Bible study. We expressed that our
desire was not only to study the Bible and other scriptures, but to learn of
the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and to live it. He said that he would be
happy to hear our message. We went to see him the first lesson and he had a
great question on Agency, the freedom to choose, and predestination. Thankfully
the Spirit works through the Lord's servants and we taught a powerful message.
We left him with a Restoration pamphlet and a Book of Mormon, committing him to
read and pray about them both. Elder Ferrell and I came back a few days later
and David told us that he had read and prayed and that he knew that Joseph
Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon was true. We were
shocked. We all just kind of looked at each other and blinked. After a minute
David then followed by saying, "I know that Joseph Smith was called of
God, but I don't believe that he is the only one that is called. God would not
only call one man to do his work or it would never get done." He then
asked many questions about priesthood and the Church that Christ established,
and also about prophets. We shared the scriptures we felt answered his
questions perfectly, yet nothing was helping him. I was praying for guidance as
Elder Ferrell taught but still nothing came. The lesson was not progressing and
David was getting frustrated, as I was also. I was just praying that I would
know what to say but it seemed as if nothing would come. I shared my testimony
of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Gospel through Joseph Smith and then
we closed with a prayer. Elder Ferrell and I were confused why we could not
speak. We both had felt the Spirit but we couldn't say what we felt needed to
be said. We met with David two days later and this time he also had
his friend Dalentine. We prayed to begin and they started asking questions, but
this time when we answered they understood. We actually used the same
scriptures in that lesson as we did in the lesson before. We felt the Spirit
working through us and we could see that it was touching David and Dalentine.
After the lesson I was trying to understand why we could speak the second time,
but not the first? My conclusion was that their hearts were ready to receive
our message this time. The Lord knows what His children need and when they need
it. I know that the Lord blesses us when we are obedient and although things
might not work the first time we should always keep trying. Things will work
out in His time. He will work through us in His time.
I had a hilarious experience this Saturday at Chapel
cleaning. Our Chapel is a two story building that is in a nice compound which
has a fountain, flowerbeds and a grass field. Every few weeks we weed the flower
beds and cut the grass in the field. This week was our first time to help the
Ward in this part of the cleaning. The Bishop brought out the tools; cutlass,
hoe, and shovel. I grabbed my most favorite farming tool, and one that my
mother taught me how to use very well, the hoe. I picked it up and walked over
to the flower bed and started going at it like we did at home and on the farm
with my family. I finished the first flower bed and turned around to find
everyone watching me. One of the members, Brother Johnson, spoke up and said,
"Elder Bergeson, how big is your farm??" I died oh! I am thankful
that my hoeing skills have come in handy here in Ghana.
I learned a great lesson about Faith this week as we met with our
great friend Paul. Paul is the greatest examples of hoping for "things
which are not seen, which are true." This week we shared with him the
lesson of the Plan of Salvation. Our first statement was that God has a body of
flesh and bones like us, except His body is perfect. He was very surprised by
this because this doctrine went against everything he has ever known about God.
He has learned his whole life that God is a Spirit. We did our best to answer
his concerns with scriptures but in the end we asked him to pray. We gave him a
place to read in the Book of Mormon, Alma 40, and set up a meeting for two days
later. He called us the next day and told us that he was traveling to the
funeral of his mate form college who had been murdered. I could tell he was a
little depressed and I encouraged him to pray and even read because that
scripture would give him great strength. When we met with him again after the
funeral, I could sense this peace about him. After we had prayed to open our
lesson, he bore his testimony to us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
He said that just the one page he read answered questions that he did not even
know that he had. And because he know those things were true, he knew that the
other things which we taught were true. Alma 40 talks about what happens to our
spirit after we die, and also how we will one day be resurrected and live with
our Heavenly Father again. This brought great peace to him at the time of his
friends death. He had faith that these things really are true and that we will
live again. Paul is full of faith and I hope that we can follow his example. In
this life we are asked to walk by faith, not by sight. We do not know what lies
ahead of us, we don't know what will happen or what trials we will be asked to
endure, but as we walk with faith we will know that all things will work for
our good. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that He knows what
we must pass through to be better servants of Him and His Son. Your faith will
be tested each day and you will have to choose to believe, even if you cannot
see. But always remember that you are being watched over by one who sees
everything. And He loves you. Walk with faith each day and you will be walking
with my mother, Paul, my self, and my Savior. You will never be alone.
I love you all and ask for your continued prayers. I have been
called to train a new missionary from the USA who I will meet tomorrow.
Everything in this life is temporary and I am grateful for this learning
experience.
PREPARE IT
Mi Kwaba,
Elder Bergeson
Hiking and seeing a spot that reminded Elder Bergeson
of the First Vision
Working hard at chapel cleaning with Jo-boy
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