Priesthood, Chastity and Our Hearts

Etisen Family and Friends?! Ye fre me Elder Bergeson! 

I am trying to show off the little Twi I know. That means "my name is." I am learning it small small, especially because I can only learn it from hearing it! This week was like all of the others, full of happiness and many disappointments, but I am thankful for the many things I am learning.

I realized this week that I haven't talked a lot about the children in Ghana. They are always around us and whenever they see me the all yell "Abruni ka ka!!!" at the top of their lungs. And as soon as one yells it, they all take turns yelling it! We were going by a school once on our bikes and the children had just been released and were walking out of the door. I could hardly believe the amount of noise that burst from that place. I heard one small girl yell it and then about 100 voices started screaming. I was so glad I was on a bike because I felt like there was an army of little children trying to get me. Little kids will run along my bike while I am riding just trying to touch me so they can tell their friends they touched a white man. The funniest thing is that all of the little girls tell me, "You are beautiful." They love my hair and how soft it is so when I am sitting, the little ones and sometimes the older ones will come and ask me if they can feel my hair. I have been pet by more humans in these last three months than in my whole life. Besides that, the children are quite impressive. In Ghana, every person gives respect to their senior. Children are raised being taught that anyone older than them should be regarded as their parent. They have so much respect and are very humble around everyone. It is funny because adults or teenagers will call a child over and give them money to go and buy them food. I even saw one old man call a child over and he asked the child to scratch his back! So the child sat there for 20 minutes scratching this old man's back with all the energy he had. I don't think most children in America would even mind you if you tried to call them over and you weren't their mother or father. And since anyone who is older than you is regarded as your parent, you see many adults beating children for doing things bad. And after they finish beating you, they bring you to your parents who beat you again for making that person beat you. It might sound crazy and very harsh but it works! The children are so humble and hard working. This all made me think of a scripture in 3 Nephi 9: 22. Christ's voice is being heard by those in the Americas and he says: "Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for such is the kingdom of God. Behold for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again." Christ is telling us that he laid down his life for the people who come unto Him as a child. This scripture has become so meaningful to me after seeing the children around me in Ghana. They come when they are called, they go when they are sent, and they scratch backs when the master commands them too. And this is what we, as followers of Christ, need to become. When Christ calls you to serve others, we serve them with all the energy that we have. We perform what we are asked to do with our whole hearts. Our Heavenly Father is in charge and he has given us a way to return to him, we just need to humble ourselves as a child and we will be able to return to His presence to live with Him forever. 

This past month we started visiting the Asante's, a less active family. We had been seeing them and then randomly late one night we got a call from Grandma Asante. She was very frantic and concerned and told us that Sister Asante, her daughter needed a Priesthood blessing right now. We rushed on our bikes from the Chapel, the ride that normally takes 10 minutes was over in 5 minutes, and were met by Sister Asante's three children; Spencer (7), Eliza (4) and Junior (2). They were all quiet and very somber which worried me because they are normally always running around and screaming. They led us into the house where they lived with their Grandma, Mother, and Aunt. We brushed past their curtain into their one room home and we saw Sister Asante lying prostrate on the ground, as if she had fallen there, sweating and moaning. Grandma told us that she had come home from school and was going to prepare food when she just collapsed. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she called the missionaries knowing that we can help. And something in my mind told me that we could help. When Christ called his twelve disciples in Mathew 10 "he gave them power.... to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." I have been called and I have been given that same power and authority from God. I am a representative of Jesus Christ; I am in Ghana to act as he would act, and to serve as he would serve. My companion and I looked at each other and after a moment he told me that I would be performing the blessing. I felt so calm as I laid my hands on our dear sisters head. I gave Sister Asante a blessing and I felt that Spirit close to me as I spoke. At the end I lifted my hands off of her head and looked at my companion and then around the room at her children. They were watching me like I was an angel and at the time, I felt like one. I don't remember much of what I said in that blessing, only that she would be strengthened in her pain and that she would be healed completely. We said our goodbyes and left the little room where that family sat huddled around their mother, watching over her by the light of a small oil lantern. It was an image I will never be able to forget. We came by the next morning and to our surprise, there was Sister Asante sitting up in her chair, still very weak but feeling a lot better. It was a testimony to me of the authority that I and all of the Priesthood brethren have to act in God's name. He is truly with us and uses us to bless the lives of others if we live worthy to use this power.

I met my sister Tanae this week in Ghana. Her name is Jane and she acted so much like my sister! We went to go visit a less active member and she was not home. We were walking away and we decided to talk to a sister who had just finished sweeping the yard. She was sitting there drinking some water and sweating when Elder Fayeampah introduced us. She gave us an 'I'm tired and trying to drink water face' that for some reason reminded me of Tanae! We finally got her to talk and I even told her some jokes that made her smile and we sat down and started talking to her. She is 28, has two children, and loves dancing and eating Banku. It sounded a little like my sister to me because she is 28 and also loves dancing and eating! And as we were talking she was so fun. We laughed as she talked about the days before she was married when she would go to the clubs and dance and how now that she is married and has kids she can only dance at home. I asked her to show me some moves and she said only if I would! I did the Shoki but she was too shy to do any in front of her neighbors. Anyways, that is what reminded me of Tanae and why I quickly came to love her. We decided to teach her about the Law of Chastity. She agreed with all of it completely, and then I asked her a question about her own husband and she told me that "I know that he sleeps around a lot, but I stay because my children deserve a good life." I was so sad to hear this. And, I was so grateful to have grown up with the Law of Chastity in my life. I bore my testimony that the Lord can help us in our trials and of the example that she can to her husband. Hopefully, if he sees her living it that he may also one day live it. I am so thankful for this commandment that the Lord has given us. It takes a lot of self-control to stay faithful in a marriage and clean before one, but the blessings and trust that come cannot be replaced. I know that the Lord knows of the pain that comes with breaking this commandment. And that he loves us enough that he will help us keep it. The trust that comes from being faithful to the Lord, your companion, your children and yourself can only come from living this great Law.

This week I read in Alma 45: 7 about Alma talking to his son Helaman. He asks him if he will keep the commandments of the Lord and Helaman says "Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart." I found it interesting that he would keep the commandments with his heart. It is our hearts that the Lord wants. And it is our hearts that the Lord looks at. We need to always remember that we will see our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ again. We need to prepare our hearts now for that time. I know this church is true because it makes my heart happy. There are days when I am so disappointed with our investigators or myself, but I just pray to feel peace and happiness inside, and very soon the Lord lifts my heart. He is there for all of us. Cry unto him and he will come to you and give you peace in the times of pain and sadness. He loves you. That's why He died for you. And what he asks for in return are our hearts. Give it to Him and you will feel the peace and happiness that only He can bring.

I love you all and I love all that I am learning about myself and my Savior. I will ask for your prayers this week because I know I can't do it alone.

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Elder Bergeson

Eliza, Spencer and Junior

Hilarious girls who say that Elder Bergeson

is "beautiful"

Elder Bergeson and Jane (like Tanae)

Family Home Evening in Teshie Ward

Faith to Move

James 2 : 14,17

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?"

Family and Friends!

Ekom de me paaa. That means "I'm starving!" in Twi and I use it a lot because that is the only thing I know how to say. (They add paa at the end of words to stress them, which changes the meaning from hungry to starving.) And it sometimes gets me into trouble because I'm not actually hungry, I just want to impress the local people with my small knowledge of their language. They like to hear the Abruni's speaking their tongue. 

One day Elder Fayeampah and I were walking to go see one of our investigators. In our area there are three paved roads, the other roads are dirt paths that are really just spaces between the houses that cars can pass through. But like I said, there are only three paved roads so people can do anything they want with the land between the roads. And that's why there are houses/shacks/sheds everywhere, random canals and ditches, goats and sheep eating and pooping wherever they please, and garbage. So much garbage. Well we were walking down a path that we normally took and we rounded the corner and ran into a wall! The wall hadn't been there the day before but someone decided they wanted to build a building in the middle of this well used path. And if you have the money to do it then no one can stop you! So we had to find a different route and we started walking. We were walking through this compound and we saw 4 girls sitting down on a door step and they called us over. We spoke to them and learned their names and then set up a return appointment. We came back a few days later and we started teaching these girls. One of them is named Dorine and right away I saw something different about her. We were talking about The Gospel of Jesus Christ that tells us that if we want to live with our Heavenly Father again, we have to do 5 things. We must have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repent of our sins, be baptized by someone who holds the Priesthood (the power and authority to act in God's name), be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. When we spoke about baptism, Dorine really started to get interested in what we were talking about. It looked like she was just waiting on our every word and when we finished what we were teaching I asked her what she was thinking. She told us that she had been baptized in her church but that she didn't know where her preachers authority had come from. I bore my testimony to her and all of the other girls there, by that time I counted 17 teenager and young adult women gathered around us, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church on the Earth that has the complete Priesthood Authority of God. I know that Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father but more importantly, I know that Joseph Smith was given His power so that we can be saved and return to live with Him again. I invited sister Dorine to be baptized and she accepted. At the end we asked one sister to give us a closing prayer and she said she would but only if we sang her one of our worship hymns. Elder Fayeampah and I could only think of one that we both knew; Israel, Israel, God is Calling. So we sang with our hearts and I even sang the descant that I learned in the MTC from the missionaries from Cope D'Va. They loved our song and we received a round of applause from the 17 girls gathered around us. I was grateful at that time for a good choir instructor who made me sing solos often, because girls make me nervous and especially that group. So thank you Mr. Holloway! :) And I look back now and realize that if that wall had not been built in the middle of the path we would have never found those girls. I know that the Lord is in charge and He works in my life and in the lives of others.

This week Elder Liongitau taught me a very valuable lesson about faith. We were having our weekly meeting with the missionaries in our area and Elder Liongitau was giving us an instruction. He walked to the front of the room and set a pen on the table. He then told us that as missionaries we have great faith and that we are told that if you have great faith you can move mountains. He then said that if we can move mountains then we certainly should be able to move a small pen. He said, "Elder Bergeson, you have great faith! Move this pen with your faith." I was only able to say, "If the Lord wanted that pen moved then I would be able to move it." He then said to my companion, "Elder Fayeampah, you have great faith! Can you move this pen?" Elder Fayeampah stood up, walked to the table, said "Faith is an action word" and moved the pen and returned to his seat. What a great lesson! Faith is hoping for things which are not seen which are true. but like James Chapter 2 states, faith without works is pointless! I have faith that the Lord will lead me to the people who are prepared to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I show that faith by going out each day and working hard to find them. We often pray and ask Heavenly Father for things. We ask for blessings, maybe that we may have all that we need in our lives or that we can find a job or that we can get good grades in school, and it is great to ask our Father for those things. But the question is, what are you going to do so that God can answer those prayers? Are you going to sit at home all day and wait for those blessings to come? Let me tell you, you'll be waiting for a long time. You need to get up and go out and show your Father in Heaven that you deserve those blessings, and I believe that in his time he will give them to you. Faith is more than just believing, it's doing. That is why I've left my life to serve a mission. I have Faith in my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I showed that faith by coming to Ghana.

This week we visited one of our recent converts named Old Soldier. His name Kojo Boatey but he served in the Ghana military from 1964 - 1991 so we call him Old Soldier. I actually started calling him grandpa and it pleases him because he likes saying he has a white grandson! Well I decided to ask him what he learned from being in the military and instantly he answered me saying, "Becoming a soldier takes more than one day! You have to learn to shoot to kill. You shoot and if you miss, you shoot again. And again, and again, and even if you hit the target, you keep shooting so that you become perfect." As a missionary my mind instantly linked this to the Gospel. I was reading in Alma 43 and it talks about two civilizations, the Nephites and the Lamanites, who have gone to war. The Nephites, in verse 18 and 19, "were armed with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war... with breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads" but the Lamanites were "not prepared with any such thing." And because of this "they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of the Nephites." I was listening to Old Soldier talk to me about how he prepared as a soldier and I was thinking of these verses in the Book of Mormon. How are we preparing ourselves as soldiers of the Lord? Are we putting on our armor? Are we practicing our shooting so that we can become perfect at it? There will be enemies that will come up and we will be forced to shoot and will we hit the target and survive? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. It begins with Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We must believe that the Savior truly took upon Himself our sins, our weaknesses, our imperfections and then died for us. All so that we can become free from the pain and guilt and live in the presence of our Heavenly Father. But like I said earlier, faith is an action word. Christ truly can change us, he can help us become someone we never thought possible. He can bring us peace and happiness in a world that is full of dangerous enemies. But when we have Christ and we exercise faith in Him, those enemies will never be able to conquer us and we shall never fear. Our God is with us. I know that your Savior and your Heavenly Father love you. They love you more than we will ever comprehend in this life, and they want to bring you happiness. So have faith! Jesus Christ's Church is on the Earth again and I know it is true. I know it with my whole being and I pray that you will have the faith to act and to find this out for yourself. 

I love you all and I love this Gospel. I feel your prayers and know I have people at home supporting me.

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Elder Bergeson

Teaching them young

Elder Bergeson and Old Soldier

Priscilla and Elder B at church

Enshyra doing Elder B's hair

Rain Puddles

Alma 40 : 12

And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

Family and Friends!!!

The missionary work  in Ghana is rolling forward steadily and I am so thankful to be a part of it. I know that on my own I could never do this work; I am an 18 year old Abruni (White Man) who is teaching Ghanaians who know the Bible perfectly, but with the power of the Holy Ghost I am able to answer their questions and truly touch their hearts so that they want to change. It is amazing. And I can only thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings that he has poured out upon me and thank each of you for the prayers on my behalf.

This week has been full of many humbling experiences. The one that affected me the most was with Mama Victoria. We met Victoria last Sunday when she came to church. We had never seen her before but she said she was a member so we sent her to the other ward thinking she lived in their area. Then about 10 minutes later she came back into our class and said that she was in our ward. It turns out that she is a member in our ward but that she hasn't been to church in a year for a few reasons. First, she broke her leg. She was involved in an automobile accident and her leg was broken completely on the shin bone. She wasn't able to walk and even now it is extremely painful for her to move. Then, not long after she suffered the leg injury, her mother passed away. Victoria said that her mother got sick very suddenly and that they could do nothing to stop her from passing. And then only a few weeks after that her only daughter passed away. I sat there listening to her and I was to shocked to even speak for quite some time. This happened in May and I could tell how difficult these experiences were for her. I could see how heavy these burdens were upon her and the heartache that she was experiencing was beyond anything I have ever experienced, but as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I am called to represent Jesus Christ and to say what he would say. I am called to lift where my Savior Jesus Christ would lift. I shared with Mama Victoria a scripture I had read that morning for personal study, Alma 40 : 12, and then bore my heartfelt testimony of the truthfulness of it. I told her that I knew that her mother and her daughter were in a state of rest and peace right now. I knew that. And I told her that even she would be able to live in paradise too. She will be able to rest from all of the pain and sorrow that she is feeling now if she continues to be righteous and to keep the commandments of God. Tears came to our eyes as I looked into hers and testified of this simple truth. I am so thankful for the Gospel and the peace it can bring us in times of despair.

Happy Halloween. In Ghana they do not celebrate Halloween, mostly because they believe in witches, ghosts and even dwarfs. They are very superstitious here so they say that having a celebration with skeletons and witches and ghosts would be suicide because they believe that those things would actually appear and steal them. When I first got here I picked up a coin I saw on the ground and my companion screamed trying to stop me but I picked it up before he could and he stared at me like I was insane. He told me that witches put coins on the ground and then when you pick them up you'll turn into a stone or a turtle and then they'll pick you up and take you away. And he was dead serious. They believe in this stuff and from the stories I have heard from literally everyone I am starting to believe it too. So yeah, they don't celebrate Halloween and they think America is crazy to do that kind of thing. But we celebrated it in our own way by having a FUFU PARTY!! Brother Faussen invited all of the missionaries in Teshie over and he gave us FuFu, Groundnut Soup, Tuna and I had a special treat in my bowl, cow knee. Groundnut Soup is Orange and it was my own little Halloween Celebration.

I saw an Apostle of the Lord on Thursday. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to Ghana and on Thursday night he held a meeting for the members and the way he conducted it was by having a question and answer meeting. They had microphones around the audience and if you had a question you just raised your hand and he would call on you to ask your question. And he was so awesome. I went thinking that he would just preach to us whatever he felt prompted to, which he did, but he let the audience ask the questions and he was so much fun to listen too. One man stood up and asked what the church was doing about the less active members in the church. And all Elder Bednar said was, "Sir, the question is not what the church is doing, the question is what are you doing. Next question please." Boom. Bang. Fire Power. I loved it! He ended with his testimony of Jesus Christ. That He died for us, but more importantly, He lives for us. Elder Bednar knows that Christ lives. Just hearing his testimony tells you that there is no doubt that Christ lives. I left that meeting with a determination to tell everyone that I know for myself that Christ lives.

I came up with a parable this week that helps me get through the rough times and I hope you can apply it in your own lives. I call it the Parable of the Rain Puddle. My companion and I were walking back to the apartment one night in the rain. It had been raining very hard for a few hours before but now it was just drizzling. As we were walking I saw a large rain puddle ahead of me. I had been feeling a little depressed that night and when I saw that rain puddle I thought of one of my best friends at home who loves the rain because she loves jumping in rain puddles. I on the other hand never did because I didn't want to ruin my shoes or get dirty, or some other excuse, but tonight I needed some happiness. So I just bursted into a sprint, took a flying leap and landed with two feet into this huge rain puddle! My companion was looking at me like I was losing it but I just laughed and made my way out of the puddle feeling a lot better. And after I was thinking about it and relating it to life. All of us on the road of life are going to face rain puddles. It our decision how we will react to the rain puddles. We can act like myself when I was at home where I would walk into it and just complain about how it ruined my shoe and got me all dirty. Or we can react how my friend did at home, she was so excited to see rain puddles and she made the best out of them. And it brought joy into her life and a smile upon her face. I would like you each to think of how we are reacting to our "rain puddles". Are we trying to avoid them and complain when we are inside them, or do we run towards them and try to find joy in them? I know that as we try to face our trials with a knowledge that we will learn and grow from them, the Lord will help us to get through them. He will give us the peace and happiness that we desire if we just ask Him. Remember, jump in the puddle and smile. :) It is the best way to live in this life full of Rain Puddles.

I love you all and pray for your safety.    

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Elder Bergeson

Half the missionaries having their own

"Halloween" fun

(No celebrations in Ghana because of superstitions)

Elder Bergeson eating Fufu, Groundnut Soup

with his first cow knee

(it was cartilage and fat)

Elder Bergeson and Mark at his Baptism this week

Elder Fayeampah and Elder Bergeson

getting ready to play some football on P-day