Emailing for Small Time

Hello,

The work is going well here. We had another investigator come to Church this Sunday on his own. He is 23, the age group that we are looking for the help build up the Church in Asutsuare, and we also had 2 more members from Osuwem come to Church this Sunday. Brother Animle did not make it. His wife is a member but none of his children are. And his first born son is married and in his 20's, we are planning to teach them as soon as we can get the father committed to coming to Church. It is planting season right now so the farmers are very busy chasing down machinery to till the ground for them. There is actually only one rotary tiller in Asutsuare and one in Osuwem for all of the farmers in the Area. The machine runs all day every day and the farmers pay a lot for it's services. So right now many of the farmers are busy but we hope to see them in Church in the coming months. 

My companion is swell. He is growing a lot in his Gospel knowledge. He is honestly pretty American. He knows more than I do about music and movies and actors in America, so he is always asking me questions of things I don't know about! But I have been able to teach him many things in missionary work and he is picking it up fast. He is a great son.

The Mission is great. I really love this time to serve and touch the hearts of many. I love you.

Elder Bergeson

A Father and his sons....Elder Kambwiri, Elder Hanberg, Elder Wanjala

(Elder Bergeson and the missionaries he has trained)

Elder Bergeson's friends, Francis and Samuel

Sister Sandra, like the little sister Elder Bergeson has never had

Stand Fast

Galatians 5: 1

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

My Family,

I bua juo. (I am happy.) This week has been great, just great. It was the first week of training for Elder Wanjala and we have already made many great memories and had a lot of fun. We also did a bit of missionary work in there which ended with six of our investigators coming to Church. We worked hard and had fun while doing it. 

My companion can cook! Well, he can cook Kenyan food, that is for sure. In Kenya they eat mostly rice and a food that is prepared using maze (corn) flour. But they also have this great food called Chapati. It reminds me a lot of Tortillas back home. You mix Flour with water and a little bit of salt, you mash it together and then keep adding flour until it feels like bread dough. You then roll it out and fry it on a frying pan. We made that together, mostly him, I just rolled them out, and then I grinded some Ghanaian Pepe for him. It was delicious and a good change from the normal Banku and Fu-fu that we always get to eat here in Asutsuare. I always love watching people as they taste Banku for the first time. It is made with corn dough, but the dough is fermented so it tasted very bitter. I bought it for Elder Wanjala on his first night and he took two bites, then stood up and said, "I'm not eating this." By the end of the week he finished 3/4 of a ball at a recent converts house. He suffered the whole time but you do what you can to make the people happy.

Elder Wanjala and I had a sweet experience on Sunday after Church. We had a new girl show up, Cecilia, a member from another District in Ghana. She was in town for a funeral with her family who are not members. She came with a young girl named Helena who is investigating the Church. Helena loved the Church and wanted us to come and see her family so that we could invite them to come next week. After Church we took a car to the neighboring village called Osuwem where Cecilia and Helena stayed. It was a typical village, and it looked like no one had ever seen a white person before. I felt very uncomfortable as the whole village stopped to watch us walk by. We made it to the middle of the village when suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and met a tall and strong Ghanaian with a very serious face. I thought we were in trouble but then he smiled and said, "My Church Members!" His name is Brother Animle. He was baptized 15 years ago in Adenta, Accra and had moved to Osuwem to help his dying father. He had not been to Church in 15 years because it was not in the Area when he had first come. He was delighted to see us and invited us to his home to meet his wife and children. He ran inside and grabbed something to prove that he was a member, a hymn book. He was smiling broadly and happy to show to us his baptism and confirmation certificate. He and his family committed to come to Church this next Sunday. It was a miracle that we met him. Thanks to Cecilia and Helena we were able to find another "lost sheep" who was looking for the fold.

At the end of this week Elder Wanjala and I were having our companionship inventory, that means we were sitting down together and seeing what we could improve on personally and as a companionship. We decided that we needed to do all we could to be united, we would start by having a prayer together right when we wake up and right before we go to bed. So last night we knelt at Elder Wanjala's bed and I began to pray. Just on a side note, our apartment has been infested with mice since I came. (Don't tell my mother.) Well, Elder Wanjala's bed is right next to our dresser. I was praying, and as I paused I heard some scratching and squeaking coming from our dresser... I finished my prayer in the most reverent manner I could and then told my companion what was happening. He went and closed all of the doors and grabbed a broom handle for him and a mop for me. I pulled the drawers out and staring at me were 3 mice! And then BOOM, Wanjala threw his broom handle. The mice scattered and ran under the door into the dining room. We chased after them as they ran behind our book shelf. We hunted them one at a time. Wanjala was at one end with a flashlight forcing them out, I was at the other end with my mop knocking the mice out. I felt like I was practicing my golf swing. One got out the front door. The second one I crushed the head with the mop. The third one I had against the wall and when I pulled my mop back to take another swing, the mouse grabbed on and instead of hitting it, I flung it right at Elder Wanjala. Many of you know that Africans are fast. I am now a witness of the speed and agility of Africans. The mouse was in the air flying right for Wanjala. Elder Wanjala was standing right in the path of the mouse. Then I blinked and Wanjala was on top of a chair, his shoes still laying where he had been standing not less than a second earlier. I was laughing so hard we had to take a 5 minute timeout. Wanjala had literally jumped out of his shoes. We ended up killing the last one and making a great memory.

I love you all. Remember that you don't ever need to feel discouraged because the Atonement makes it is possible for us to change! What a blessing. Stand fast in righteousness and change yourself to become more like Him.

PREPARE IT

Mi Kwaba,

Elder Bergeson

Elder Bergeson, new companion Elder Wanjala

Life in Asutsuare

Chapati and Pepe (like tortillas and salsa)

Elder Wanjala

The poor mice didn't stand a chance of making it!

Elders in Ghana

Forward Pressing Forward

Hello All,

I love you guys. My companion, Elder Tolzmann, has been transferred to Adenta, the Area right next to Agbogba. I have been called to train again. This will be my third time training and I am excited. I am at the Mission Home now with my son, his name is Elder Wanjala from Kenya. He is awesome. It should be a great time together as we press forward in the work.

My companion would love some emails from you all, he doesn't have anyone to email from home, and his email is jackson.wanjala@myldsmail.net

I love you all. Life is good. Christ lives and He will always be waiting for us to return to Him.

Elder Bergeson

Baptisms in Asutsare

Meetings in Accra

Transfers and getting a new companion

Prepare Him Room

Our family saw Kaden for the first time since he left on his mission over Google Hangout on Christmas Day which was wonderful! He looks great and loves being in the "bush" serving the Ghanaian people.  Our connection wasn't perfect but it was so nice to see his smiling face and feel of his love. We love our missionary and all those who are serving. Happy New Year!

Revelation 3: 20

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Dear Family,
Afishyapa! (Merry Christmas!) And a Happy New Year. I spent the past year in the service of others and I have come to love the people and the culture here. I feel like they are the ones blessing my life, so this Christmas we tried to give a bit of our hearts to the people of Asutsuare.

Elder Tolzmann and I were blessed with four baptisms this month, the first that we had was for a Sister named Agness. She is 68 years old and is married to a recent convert to the Church, Brother Robert. She loves the Gospel and is the first to speak up whenever a question is asked. She loves to smile and only has 1 of her front teeth that is showing. Agness is a joy and we wanted to make her baptism special. We went to the Chapel on Saturday for cleaning and set up the font. The font we use for baptism here is really just your average backyard portable swimming pool. It has a metal frame with a rubber pool that you fill up. To fill the font you climb up to a water tank, you put a hose inside, and you siphon the water into the font. But on Saturday there was no water flowing from the pipe going to the tank. We opened the pipe but water only came on Sunday morning. Tolz and I raced to the Chapel and did our best to siphon it but it was not catching. I was using every farm technique I knew but the water was not making the 30 ft. drop from the tank to the font. Finally we just held the hose to the sink and put water in that way. We spent our Sacrament meeting that Sunday in the bathroom taking turns holding the hose to the faucet. But still it was not filling in time for the baptism. We tried it one last time. I climbed to the tank and we did our best to siphon it but it was not catching. I said a prayer. Nothing. Then out of irritation I started throwing the hose back down to the ground. Apparently the trick in siphoning is to let gravity do the work... I had forgotten that. As I threw it down it pulled the water down and it erupted into the font. We had the baptism and Agness it brought great joy to see her smile once again.

During Christmas we often talk of giving for Christ, but my dear friend Emmanuel is a great example of giving up things for Christ. Before the missionaries met Emmanuel he was unhappy and did not have purpose. He spent his time fighting, drinking, and smoking. His nickname in town is 'Big Boss'. He is a farmer and the little money he received went to those things. He stopped fighting as he got older and when he met the missionaries he stopped drinking, not because he knew of the Word of Wisdom, but because it felt like the right thing to do. When I met Emmanuel, Elder Tolzmann and I were teaching him the commandments. I remember talking about the Word of Wisdom and specifically about smoking tobacco. He told us that by December he would be done, and truly we witnessed miracles as he began to fight against his addiction. He went from smoking 12 cigarettes a day to only smoking 1 a day in 4 weeks. His legs would pain him enough that he would not be able to walk,  and his body craved a cigarette to dull the pain but he had made the choice to stop. Emmanuel made the choice to quit by the time of his baptism and when he came out of the water he left that habit behind. Emmanuel is a happy father who loves his wife and loves where his life is going. He gave up a lot but gained much in return.

This Christmas Season and New Year have made me ponder on a line in the hymn Joy to the World, that says "let every heart prepare him room." As a babe, our Savior was born in the humble circumstances of a stable. He was laid inside a manger, a place that was used to feed animals, because there was no room in the inn. The inns were full, there was no room for the Savior so He must go. As I pondered, I wondered if my "inn" was full, or if there was no room in my heart for the Savior when he came knocking. Christ is always at the door, knocking, calling, waiting. Let us hear Him and open up our hearts to Him. Make room for the Savior in your hearts and find the joy that comes through Him.

I love you all. I hope this long winded email finds you with joy.

PREPARE IT

Mi Kwaba,
Elder Bergeson