Letters from Kelsey - 77

Hey y'all!!!

Well the days are getting hotter and more humid out here in Houston Texas. It was just a fantastic weekend with the baptisms of RJ & Daniel Pena and Sonia & Dylan Garza!!! It was so much fun to go back to Manvel to see people, that I had worked with for a long time and love, enter into the waters of baptism and receive the blessings of the gospel! I also got to see the Venegas'!! They are so great and they got callings yesterday too! It was great, its always worth it but it makes it that much more worth it when you know that all your work makes a difference, and it is so great when they remember you and are excited to see you too! We will never truly know how far our work or example reaches, so work hard and be a good example! ha ha. Well lets head to the Investigator Weekly! There are some good things happening in Houston 1 West!

Manuel & Brenda: They are just so great. So they came to church yesterday and also to the investigator devotional. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom last week when Manuel brought up his desire to quit smoking. I don't think I have taught anyone who has as sincere of desires as Manuel. I don't think that they will be baptized in my time here, because he needs to quit smoking and they need to get married, but I know that they will be soon. They love having us over and they read the Book of Mormon every day!

Magda: We fasted with her yesterday to help soften her 'husband's' heart so that he will marry her soon so that she can get baptized soon! (I forgot that nobody in the city is married). Its not that he doesn't want to marry her, he just doesn't want it to be right now. She keeps asking him to marry her now because she really does want to get baptized- lets just hope it happens soon.

We have some pretty good people but we are always looking for more, this week will be a big push on finding new people- even with the coming heat and humidity. Well my time is short- but y'all should check out my mormon.org profile! It is pretty good! ha ha Go to www.mormon.org and type in Houston Texas South Mission Kelsey in the search bar and I should come up in the next couple days! Well I love y'all and hope things are going good where ever you are! The Church is true!!

Love Always,

Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 76

Kelsey is coming home June 26th, at 7:15 PM!

Hey y'all,
Another week has come and gone in Houston, Texas. It is pretty hot out here, but not humid yet, thank goodness, but we decided to listen to Christmas music this week so that it will be less hot in our minds- ha ha. This was a good week and we have found some pretty cool people. We had a visit this last week from Elder Paul V. Johnson and it was a pretty cool experience. He was out here in because yesterday they created the 18th stake in the Houston area! It didn't really affect us that much, but our ward is now in a different stake, but nothing different for us. So lets go to the Investigator Weekly!!!
Brenda and Manuel: They are an awesome couple that we met on Saturday and they came to church yesterday! So they were a referral from missionaries in another area who are teaching her sister. Brenda has lots of family who are members in Honduras and her husband is pretty cool as well. They have a date for June 30 and we are excited to meet with them tonight!
Karina: So on Thursday we went all over Houston to help her get her stuff in order to get her marriage license, and we finally found a way to get her a passport from El Salvador so that she can do it! We are making progress!!
Mauricio & Jose: They are brothers and so funny! I'll write more about them next week.
Well... I always seem to forget what I want to tell y'all... I should probably write notes... ha ha. As I get closer to the end I do a lot of thinking about a lot of things... this week I was thinking about what life will be like when I really do go home... I mean I'm kinda expecting to go back home to the 'home' I left. This week I realized that I will be going home to something different and that things will never be the same. All the people- all of you- that I love will be different, y'all will have progressed and grown and changed for the better (hopefully). Most of my friends are married and moving on past school... but you know, I'm okay with it all. I am not going home the same person I was when I came out, and I am so grateful for that... so grateful. It would disappoint me if when I got home everything was the same as I left it. Anyway... just some random thoughts... so if y'all are expecting the same Kelsey Berg to step off that plane in a couple weeks, you will be disappointed, but its change for the better. Well I hope y'all have a good week! Love y'all!!!
Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 75

Hey y'all!! You can thank a gangster named Mike for the subject line quote, we sure find some interesting people here in the city. Well this last week was good, it went by pretty slow, but it was good. We are working hard to try and refill our teaching pool. We have some decent investigators but no one came to church on Sunday so that is now the hold up for all of them... here we go to the Investigator Weekly! Karina: She has been investigating the church for 11 years. We are trying to get her married, she has problems with her ID, so that she can get baptized on June 23! Her 12 year old daughter is a member and they are just so funny. Magda: She came to church last week, but not this week. She is a mom of 2 little girls and we are trying to get her married as well. She loved church and is starting to invite everyone to come to church! She is hopefully going to keep progressing. Well... I know this is short this week.. I'm sorry, I'm just short for words recently- weird I know. I promise I'm not getting trunky :), we just work and hit the pavement and thats about it. We really try and talk to everyone and find those the Lord is preparing in our area. The weather has been pretty decent, not too humid, really hot but its okay I'm getting a nice tan :). Well I hope y'all had a nice Memorial Day! Oh! We got to be able to DOWNTOWN Houston this last week because we had to go to the Police Department to get a copy of the police report of the break in last week and downtown was pretty cool. I can't wait to come back and see it again! Well I hope y'all have a great week! Love y'all! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 74

Hey ya'll!! So I'm back in Houston 1- the ward where I started my mission, but its a different area- more city than the first one, my compaion is Hna. Anna Baird from California and she goes home the transfer after me. Its okay here, it was really cool at church yesterday to see people that I had taught that were still strong in the church- it was cool. It was fun for them to remember me, I didn't think they would considering I was only here for 6 weeks and I couldn't speak Spanish at all. The work is kinda slow here right now, but we will work hard. I had an interview with President Saylin this last week and he told me that he had originally planned on just leaving me in Manvel for my last one (and my heart broke because it was at one point a possibility) but that he had a strong impression that I needed to be moved and he told me to make sure that I work with the urgency needed for these last 5 weeks because there in a real reason I'm in this area now. So it should be good :) I don't like the city very much though, its super easy to talk to the needed 10 people a day and we get a lot of return appointments, but not many of them progress. Our apartment is not nice at all- its decent- but I do not like cockroaches... no bueno. I have just been spoiled for the last 9 months is really what it comes down to. Here we go to the Investigator Weekly!!! Vanegas Family!!!!: BAPTIZED!!!!! WOOT!!! I was able to go to the baptism- Sister Saylin drove us and it was amazing!!! It was like going home, I had been homesick for Manvel all week and to see the way the branch supported the Vanegas family just made me love them even more. So we get there at 3:50 (baptism is supposed to start at 4:00) and only the missionaries and the branch president is there. Then by 4:15 everyone else shows up except the Vanegas'! Ha ha, I was freaking out a lot on the inside. They had come to stake conference that morning so everything was good. They were just so awesome! Hna. Vanegas cried a couple times and her 3 year old son Nicolas kept asking her why she was crying. It was just so amazing! That is why we as missionaries do what we do. This is why I came to Texas and sweat my brains out :). I'm excited to help them over this next year so that next May I can come back as they get sealed in the temple!!! So absolutely fantastic! Magda: She came to church yesterday for the first time, the Hermanas here have been teaching her for a while so it was really good for her to come! I think she liked it, her 4 year old daughter sure did. I don't know a lot about her but her husband's uncle in El Salvador has been a member for 30 years and he has cousins on missions, so they have a lot of potential. Thats about it for now... they have been dropping a lot of people so we are starting new! I love new starts. So on Saturday our car was broken into- my companion left her wallet in the pocket of the drivers side door, and they broke the drivers side window. It was at 1:00 pm and we were like 100 yards from the car the whole time as we ate lunch with an investigator for 45 minutes... it was a great welcome back to Houston... ha ha. Everything is good though and we get a new window tomorrow! yeah! Well I hope y'all have a good week! Love y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 73

Hey y'all, Well I hope y'all had a fantastic Mother's Day! We had a good one. We had a super crazy week. So Monday was P-Day, Tuesday we were supposed to move, but didn't (it was not a good day), Wednesday we moved (this apartment and complex is totally legit), Thursday I had a leadership conference in Sugar Land and that night I went to Sunnyside for an exchange. Sunnyside is English and super ghetto. It was super fun and it felt a little like a vacation. It was fun to see a different area, but I felt like I didn't do anything the whole week because I stayed in Sunnyside until Saturday afternoon and then that night we had a branch party for Mother's Day. It was a super fast and fun week. Well.... I found out this morning that I'm getting transferred... I'm super sad about it and not excited to go to a new area for only 6 weeks... I would much rather stay here, especially considering that the Vangeas' are getting baptized on Sunday and now I'll have to find a ride from someone in my new area. I'll do what the Lord asks of me and lift where I stand, even if its only for 6 weeks. I have loved serving in Manvel and serving these people. Its crazy to think that I have been here for almost 9 months, half of my mission was spent here and I can't believe it. The next 6 weeks will probably fly by because of it... its all good though. So here we go for the last edition of the Investigator Weekly: Manvel: The Vanegas family: Well the parents are getting baptized on Sunday at 4 and the branch is so stoked for them. The 13 year old daughter doesn't feel ready yet so we are going to wait with her. They are so great though. So yesterday in Relief Society they announced the baptism and one of the members commented that she thought they had been members for years! That is exactly what you want. They are so great and I'm gonna come back when they go through the temple next year. They have great fellow shippers in the branch and it has just been perfect... well besides the fact that I'm leaving. RJ: They came to all 3 hours of church yesterday and all the boys went to their classes. Christi is in Alma 14 and is loving reading the Book of Mormon. She is really learning and understanding tons about the Church and the way that Heavenly Father interacts with his children. She is starting to develop a different perspective of Heavenly Father and really understand our relationship with him. It is fantastic. RJ is set for June 9 and I will for sure come back for that baptism as well. Sarina: Still as solid as ever... just waiting on the parents. Well... I know its a little short this week... sorry. I am still in shock that I don't know where I will be Wednesday night. I was super excited for this next transfer, it was shaping up to be the best one of my mission by far. This area is going to have so much success that I'm so excited. All the work that we have put in the last 9 months are now paying off. I can honestly say that I am leaving my area better than I found it. The people here are my second family, and I know that it was inspired that I served here and that I spent so much time here. I have really enjoyed my time and have loved the experiences I have had. My mission has been amazing and I know the last 6 weeks will probably be amazing too- if I make them amazing, it is just another chapter in my mission that needs to be written. Well I better go but I hope y'all have a fantastic week. I love y'all and miss y'all tons. Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 72

Hey y'all!! Another week in the books! This was another week that flew by... I don't really have any super funny or witty things to start this email with today so I guess we will just go straight into the Investigator Weekly MAY edition!!! AH!!! MAY!!! The Venegas Family: They are just so amazing... Hno. has been so prepared its crazy. His family isn't supportive of them getting baptized but he has told them that he is old enough to decide for his family what is best for them. He also has said, which I think is totally true, that the Catholic church has taken him as far as it can, and that our church isn't anything different its just more. Which I think is true, you can only progress so far with out the fullness which is the same as the Bible with out the Book of Mormon, it can only take you so far before you need more to complete it. Their baptism is set for May 19th and the whole branch is so excited for them. Our branch is offering a marriage class during the Sunday school time and the Venegas' went to that class yesterday instead of Gospel Principles!! Oh man, they are just so great. Sarina: She is still awesome. Her commitment this week was to give a Book of Mormon to her parents and we had her write a note about why she likes to read it and why she is sharing it with them. We are hoping that that will soften up their hearts even more. Things are good with her though! RJ: So... last Monday we were at a driving range with the other Elders in our district and we got a text from Christi saying that she wants RJ and Daniel (his little brother) to be baptized on June 9th together! Daniel turns 8 the weekend before so it will be great! We had a lesson with them on Saturday and we got them the Book of Mormon reader thing and Christi has been using that to study and she loves it! The pages in her Book of Mormon are more marked than mine! ha ha. She seemed so much happier and a lot calmer than the last times we have been over. We just need them to come to church regularly and they will be all good for the 9th! She has a lot more confidence right how also, which all come from reading the Book of Mormon and feeling the spirit more! So as you can see things are going pretty decent! I'm just hoping that I don't get transferred next week. I really want to finish out here, I mean I have been here 9 months already, what's 1 more? I would love to stay here and keep working with these people and with the members. We are moving to a new apartment tomorrow so it will be like a whole new area!! Okay so maybe not really... but it will be good! Well I hope y'all have a good week!!! Love y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 71

Hey y'all~ It was a good week and it was topped off with a really good Sunday. So first of all I was one happy missionary yesterday when all the De Hoyos' kids paid their tithing on their allowance!!!! It took some work, some teaching, and lots of promising blessings, but it was helped out by the fact that Hno. De Hoyos pays his tithing all the time. It was so great to see them all walk up there after sacrament meeting to give their envelopes to the branch president. They are getting a little better in Sacrament meeting, its probably because I have started translating what is being said- sometimes its hard and sometimes I make things up so that it fits together but its all good! They don't know the difference. ha ha So here we go to the last April edition of the Investigator weekly! The Venegas Family: They are just so great- they came to church for the first hour before they had to go to a family party. We also saw them on Tuesday last week and last night. They all have dates for the 12th of May. They have said that they don't feel prepared for the 12th, but we told them to be patient and we will worry about that when the 12th comes. They are so solid though. Hno. already has the Book of Mormon on his phone and Hna. is defending the church to her Catholic mom and her Jehovah's Witness brother. Its pretty great. They are becoming awesome friends with all the members and Nicolas (3) was unhappy yesterday that he couldn't go to Primary. I feel so lucky to be teaching them and I'm praying that they will recognize their answers before the 12th- I would appreciate your prayers for them! Sarina: She is doing great and in our lesson yesterday we helped her write a couple notes to her parents that she could go put on their bed to help her open up to her parents about what she learns as church and to help them see how important everything is to Sarina and all the great things that she is learning- so hopefully they will be a little more open to her getting baptized. Those are really the only people that are progressing very well. This was another week that went by really fast. On Thursday- Saturday we went on exchanges and I stayed here while Hna. Ker went to Houston 1 and Hna. Romney (no close relation to Mitt) came here. She is in her 4th transfer and the whole time talked about how happy she was to be on exchanges with me to learn from a veteran missionary. I was flattered but at the same time all it did was make me feel really old. I feel old anyway when I find out that everyone here graduated from high school in 2009 or later... its crazy to me to think that there really is less than 2 months until I come home... I can't believe that it really is coming to an end. Well I can promise y'all that there will be no letting up here- its easy when you have been blessed with such awesome investigators. Well I hope y'all have a great week! Love and miss y'all! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 70

Hey everyone!! Oh man... this week flew by and all I can say is "Its about time!!". I have been waiting for time to go by fast for like 3 months. The first part of the week was crazy with mission stuff going on and Wednesday we got to go to the temple which was fantastic! Then we had to go to Sugar Land because I had an interview and long story short- we left Manvel at 6:45 am and didn't return until 6:45 pm! Then we had a quick lesson and more meetings. THEN! On Friday it was the closest thing I have ever seen to a tornado- I have sent a picture! So these creepy storm clouds were coming and then as they got closer it got really quiet and then all of a sudden it got really really cold and really windy and started raining really hard. It was crazy. The clouds were all swirling around and my companion and I were trying to figure out if we really wanted to see 'somewhere over the rainbow' or not. I said we should jump on our bikes and grab one of the little annoying dogs around here but she didn't think that was a very good idea- bahaha. We ended up not seeing a tornada (thats how they say it in Texas). That was really the only excited thing though that happened this week. We are teaching more people now than I have since the beginning of my mission- its fantastic! Which leads to..... The 'Wizard of Oz' edition of the Investigator Weekly!! The Venegas family!!: They came to church yesterday and it was all great again! The members have been awesome and there have been 3 sisters that have talked to Milena everyday this last week and even took her to the doctor when her husband was at work. We have a lesson with the whole family on Tuesday and I'm really excited. Carlos said last week that everything was like deja vu- it was like he had lived it all before. They are just doing awesome, they are reading the Book of Mormon and really want to be in the right path for their family. Sarina: We re-set a baptismal date for May 26th and we are really trying to work with her to verbalize things more to her parents so they can see how important it is to her and so that they can see that she is learning and not just going because her friends are. Adam and Juany: They are great older couple- I'm short on time but they are great also and Adam is really funny. Well thats it for today! Things are going good and we are just working like crazy. I can't believe that this is the last week of April! The rest of the transfer will fly by because we have a lot of work in our area and we have a lot of mission meetings- crazy crazy. I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Love y'all!! I hope you enjoy some pictures from this last week! Temple pictures of Hna. Ker and I, another one with President Saylin... he said the sun was too bright. And a funny one with the Hironymous family when we were helping them with spring cleaning! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 69

Hey y'all, Well things are good out here. There is a super crazy thunderstorm going on and when it thunders it like shakes everything! Its crazy but I'm really glad today is Monday so I don't have to go ride around in it- that sure gets old real quick. Everything turns into a lake when it rains and you understand why they have bayous everywhere! This week was a super long week, not a bad one- it just went by really slow. On Wednesday I went to a Leadership Conference which was really cool and Hna. Ker got to spend the day with some other Hermanas, I was happy for her to have the chance to meet some other sisters. It was a good experience and I left the conference with lots of things that I need to do better... I tend to be too complicated sometimes in my teachings- along with lots of other weaknesses- and sometimes I get overwhelmed with all of those weaknesses, but all I can do it try my best and have faith that the Lord will help me. We saw a huge miracle yesterday though! So we have worked really really hard these last couple of weeks to talk to our 10 people a day each and we haven't exactly seen a huge increase in our teaching pool until this week. We found a bunch of new investigators this week and I'm really hoping that they all pan out to be legit. Yesterday morning we stopped by some of them to make sure they were coming to church and nobody was home......... on our way to the church for our branch council meeting I was really questioning a lot of things and wondering what I hadn't done right and doubting myself and having lots of other thoughts. Well when we left our meeting and got to the chapel for sacrament meeting to start I was super surprised to see another new investigator there... which leads too... drum roll please.... the Investigator Weekly!!! The Venegas Family: They were the ones at church! We had received them as a referral from the English elders a couple weeks ago and had stopped by a couple times but either no one was home or they were busy, on Saturday we finally got in though. We were there for about an hour while they were talking about a whole bunch of random things and I was trying to keep it on topic. They are from Colombia and the mom met with missionaries down there a long time ago. They have a 13 year old daughter, a 3 year old son, and a 2 month old girl. The members were awesome yesterday and it was really a huge blessing and miracle to have them there. We will see what happens with them! Sarina: She is still doing well- we are really trying to figure out how to get the parents to change their minds about the whole 18 years old thing and helping them see how important it is to Sarina. I would appreciate y'all's prayers for us on this one :)! Well- I'm excited for some of the other new people that we found this week but since none of them came to church yesterday I'm not going to give them the glory of being featured- so they can just wait! ha ha. Everything is going well out here though- we are going to the temple on Wednesday morning so that will be fun, I'm really looking forward to that. We just keep pressing forward. There was something else I wanted to say but I don't really remember what it is... man, I should write notes on what I want to say... oh well- guess it probably wasn't that important. Well- I know that this work really is guided by the Lord and as much as I think sometimes that I have any control over things I quickly learn that it really has nothing to do with me. As long as I do my best and work hard then everything that is supposed to happen will happen. I hope y'all have fantastic week! Keep the faith! Love y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 68

Hey everyone! Well I hope y'all had a fantastic Easter weekend! We had a decent one out here. Only Sarina came to church yesterday when about 5 other people committed to come... that always makes for a rough Sunday evening. As a missionary the success of your week is determined by your turn out at church, so we weren't super excited last night. Oh well. We had dinner with a family from one of the English wards because they were supposed to have a non-member friend that speaks Spanish come over, but he is a heart surgeon and he was on call yesterday so as he was driving down their road he was called in, someone coded (aka their heart stopped) so he had to go... it seemed all too familiar :), I have seen that happen more times than I can count. That was really the only exciting thing for our Easter- we had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, raspberry pie, and jello. I felt right at home! It was way too good to be true! We had a really fun branch Easter party on Saturday and I was introduced, so nicely, to confetti eggs. The pictures are the results of this introduction. The Young Men President- Hno. Ruiz- got me first and then all the little kids thought it would be fun so they joined in... So what they are are real egg shells that have been emptied, cleaned, colored, filled with confetti, and then covered. What you do is just smash them on people's heads... it was fun, yet I still have some pink and purple spots on my back from the coloring that didn't come off. A lot of Hispanics make their own and sell them but you can also buy them from the stores down here- quite interesting. It was a really good time though, it was a nice day so that was fun also. Here we go for out Easter edition of the Investigator Weekly!!! Sarina: Her parents don't think that baptism is something that is important to her, they feel like in a family with 4 kids she has just found something that is just her own so they they want her to wait until she is a little older. I think she knows there is something different about the Church and she knows she feels good when she is there and does the things of the Church. Our goal now is to teach her simply and to help her be able to verbalize everything so that she can talk to her parents about it and they can see that it really is something she wants and that she understands the commitment. Severo: He said he would come yesterday and then didn't... I guess we will have to have a DTR (determine the relationship) this week to see what he interest level really is. Maria S.: She is new and was a referral from the Silverlake Elders. She is super cool and accepted a date for May 5. She had 2 kids and was raised Catholic and has also gone to a non-denominational Christian church but has felt that they were both lacking something. She was excited to read the Book of Mormon and find out for herself if Joseph Smith was a prophet. I'm excited to see where she goes. That is really it... I feel like we are always struggling with our teaching pool, but we keep working hoping that we will be in the place where we are supposed do, doing the things that we are supposed to so that the Lord can bless us and we can find those that are prepared. Sometimes I get tired of talking to people though, this last week I talked to a lady who told me that I wasn't a Christian... normally when people don't want to talk to us it doesn't bother me because they just are prepared and they aren't worth getting all worked up about. There are really only two things that tick me off when we talk to people 1) when they tell me I'm not Christian or they tell me what I believe, 2) when they assume that because I'm only 22 I just follow blindly and am not old enough or experienced enough to know of these things for myself, or when they feel the need to 'enlighten me'. They are the ones that get me going... its all good though, we have to get through those to get to the ones that really are looking for something better in their life. Well... we just keep working away- yesterday was my 16 month mark! Can y'all believe it? I sure can't. Well I hope y'all have a good week and that the Lord continues to bless y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 67

Hey y'all! Happy April!! and Happy Easter on Sunday!! So as the subject line says... I got my first round of 'trunky papers' this week! It was really just a letter from President Saylin encouraging me to sprint to the end and to make sure I set goals to make the most use of these last few months. I, of course, already planned on sprinting to the end but it is always nice to have a little support/ challenge from your mission president. It also had a paper for me to fill out with all my home information ( home ward, stake, address, which airport is closest, etc.) so that they can buy your plane ticket!!! CRAZY! I remember when everyone else would get their trunky papers, and I can't believe that I am one of the old ones now! Oh and also, transfer calls were this morning and no surprise but I'm staying in Manvel for transfer #6. I'm fine with it but I have no idea what will happen next transfer. If I stay in Manvel it means that I will be here for 7 transfers and 10 months...which is a super long time, but 'vacation transfers' don't really happen that often. Vacation transfers are when you are in a new area for your last transfer, its called that because you don't really have to work on getting to know the area, but we will worry about all of that in 6 weeks. Well now to the Investigator Weekly!! Sarina: She is fantastic and watched all 4 sessions of conference with the Carters (her member friends). She is progressing amazingly and the only thing now is getting her parents on board with baptism. Sister Carter is going to talk with her parents about how important baptism is to Sarina because she is like every normal 12 year old and has a hard time verbalizing things. We went to a baptism with them last night and she really liked it. It is amazing to work with her and this really is how missionary work should be done. We really don't have to do anything, just be there to provide the support but because she was friends with members first it is a very natural thing ( just like Elder Evans talk yesterday!) She is just great Severo: He wasn't able to watch conference but his dad passed away last week and he is now a lot more receptive to the Plan of Salvation and we are excited to help him know the truth of the hope of the gospel. I love being a missionary for this reason. Rosales kids: Their mom is a less active member who is coming back to church. The kids are 12 and 10 and are really good friends with the Hironymous' (our branch presidents family). They love coming to church and learning about the gospel. They watched 2 sessions of conference and it was really good, their mom really liked it also! Well it has been a decent week- it felt super long though, don't really know why, hopefully this week will be faster. Well I hope y'all have a great Easter weekend! The knowledge and hope of the resurrection is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about! Yeah Easter! Well I love y'all and hope y'all have a fantastic week! The Church is true! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 66

Hey everyone! It was a good and fast week out here in Manvel. As I sit here trying to remember what exactly happened this week... I can't really remember anything. One thing that comes to the forefront of my mind is our lesson with Sarina yesterday!!!!!!! YES!! It finally happened! I have been waiting to have a lesson with her for months!! I could talk about about it here but that would take away from the excitement of the Investigator Weekly! And I know that y'all are waiting on the edge of your seats to get this email today so you can finally quench that awe and wonder at what has happened this week... bahaha- okay, maybe not quite, but here we go: Sarina: So we finally had a lesson at the Carter home. They are the members that bring her to church every week and take her to all the other activities. We talked about the Restoration and watched the movie about Joseph Smith and his story- the short one, not the long one. She is awesome and the Carters have 12 and 10 year old daughters who are Sarina's friends that they did awesome to help us in the lesson. She accepted a baptismal date for April 21!! We just have to make sure the parents are on board with her getting baptized now. Sarina told us that her mom said that she wouldn't pay for a baptism and that Sarina needs to wait until she 18... well the good news is that baptism is free!!! Yeah! We are all praying that the Lord will soften the hearts of Sarina's parents so that they will agree to let her be baptized on April 21. We are going to watch General Conference with them this weekend so we are excited! Severo: We had a lesson with him on Friday night and we taught the Plan of Salvation. We talked to Hno. Aquino yesterday a lot about it... Severo has the desire to do what he is supposed to... we just need to help him have the desire to read and help him understand why this is important to him. I have a lot of hope for him, he is a good guy and we have a lesson with him on Friday and I'm excited for it, and we are planning to have him watch Conference with us this weekend! RJ: He is doing good, we are helping his mom understand the Book of Mormon more so that when they read it she can help them understand it. We have decided that the key is to strengthen her and then he will come... it's kinda been our focus all along but we have returned back to that recently. Well.. thats about it for the Investigator Weekly this week. It has been fantastic weather out here and I hope it lasts for the next couple months and doesn't get too hot and humid. I really don't have much else to say this week... weird... I know. The week just went by so fast that I don't remember a lot that happened. I'm sorry to disappoint y'all with this short email, I'll do better next week... but I am excited for Conference! I hope y'all enjoy Conference this weekend and remember the great blessing it is that we have the knowledge that God has once again called men to help him in His work. I meet people everyday that are so confused in life and listen to every wind of 'doctrine' that there is out there. It makes me really grateful for the blessing that I have of knowing in whom I can trust to receive guidance from the Lord. I'm super excited!! Well I love y'all and hope that y'all have a fantastic week!! As they say out here in Texas: Have a blessed day! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 65

Hey howdy hey y'all!! Well this was a pretty normal week out here in good ol' Texas! It started out slow but it ended well. We found a new guy who is pretty legit! His name is Severo! I'll talk more about him in a minute. So this week we were out scoping some different areas and we were riding a lot along these back country gravel roads and Hna. Ker had her first experience with the 'wild', stray dogs of Texas chasing us... one was a 3-legged dog, but don't let that fool you! He was a fast little bugger. Well... off we go to the Investigator Weekly!! Severo!: We talked to him on Friday, he lives across the street from our new ward mission leader- Hno. Aquino. (Off of one of those podunk country roads) He said that he had heard of Joseph Smith before and could relate the experience back to us. We got down his number and gave him pamphlet! We then went across the street to our dinner appointment with the Aquinos and told Hno. Aquino about it and then on Saturday he called Severo and invited him over to his house to have a lesson after church yesterday! It was a great lesson and he accepted a date for April 21. Hno. Aquino is 26 and got back from his mission in 2009 and it was great to have a fresh returned missionary in our lesson. He did awesome and I'm really excited to see how Severo progresses! He was excited to read the Book of Mormon and we get him 3 Nephi 11 to read so that he could learn about when Christ came to the Americas! I have high hopes for him! Sarina: So today we had an awesome phone call from Sister Carter- she is the one that takes Sarina to church every Sunday. Well Sister Carter talked to Sarina's parents and told them that we wanted them to have the opportunity to meet us before we started teaching Sarina. Her dad said that they didn't want Sarina to be held back on account of them so we got the OK to meet with her! Her parents are very supportive and love everything about the Church. Their boys are very involved in scouting and they love the Young Women program and said the it is everything that Girl Scouts isn't, in regards to the caliber of the program. It was a very good sign for us and her parents are so supportive and now all we need to do is teach her everything so she can get baptized! We are now going to have lessons with Sarina in the Carter home! I'm stoked- the miracles that we needed are slowly starting to fall into place! Well... I know that it is super short this week but those were the two biggest things that happen this week I feel. We are working hard to find new people that want to progress and it seems to be working. It has been nice weather out here and we rode our bikes a lot the last couple of days- on Saturday night I was a little pink, but my tan is coming back! How's that snow working for y'all? Ha ha just kidding- okay that was mean. I'm sorry. I will get my own though when it comes about May and I'm sweating my brains out... something to look forward to! One thing cool that happened this week is that I met a guy from Peru!! It normally wouldn't be that big of a deal but considering we are going there when I get back I tried to talk to him a little bit about Machu Picchu but he didn't think it was as cool as I did... lame. Well... I don't think I really have much else to tell y'all this week... sorry . I love emailing though- it sure is nice to share what has happened in my week with those I love! I hope y'all have a good week and that Lord continues to bless you and your families! I attached some pictures- I hope y'all like them! Just random pictures! Love y'all!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 64

Hey everyone!! Well it was a wet weekend in Manvel, Texas- not only because of the thunderstorms we had but also because Victor Mendez got baptized!!! It is a very liberating baptism for me- ha ha. He has been ready to be baptized since the middle of January and he has been weighing on my mind and I have been stressing a little about it, but I'm very thankful that everything fell into place to where he was able to have a very awesome baptism yesterday. I was nervous because his parents didn't come until sacrament meeting was almost over because of the rain. Victor came early with his uncle so that he could have his baptismal interview, and I wasn't going to baptize him with out his family there- so I was very relieved when they showed up. It was great and it was a really good time for his family- his parents are returning to activity and so are 2 of his uncles and their wives. It was really awesome, one uncle baptized him and the other confirmed him. I was really happy for them and I was happy that Hna. Ker was able to get a baptism in her first transfer- even though she doesn't know Victor very well, its still an awesome feeling to watch a convert baptism. Well our investigator pool is a little dry right now but not from lack of trying. We talked to a whole bunch of people this week but... they were all English people! We tried to branch out to new neighborhoods but it didn't really work- but we have seen blessings for trying extra hard to talk to our 10 people (each) a day. We will keep doing it with the hope, prayer, and faith that the Lord will provide. Now to the Investigator Weekly! RJ: They had a busy week so we weren't able to see them but we will see them this week and we are trying to decide when is the right time to bring up baptism again. We don't want his mom to feel pressured but I think that him getting baptized will be a really good spring board for the family to keep returning to activity. His mom found out this last week that she is pregnant... so it will be boy #5... she has 3 of her own and 1 that is her sister's that she has custody of. She isn't really happy to be pregnant but we will try and use it to help her come closer to the Lord and to really work on keeping the commandments so that they can have His extra help in their growing family. Sarina: Well... we are still waiting to meet with her parents but we are getting a lot of support from the ward with helping her know about baptism and its importance. I'm excited for General Conference coming up so that hopefully we can get a member to invite Sarina and her family over to watch conference, which would be a really good introduction to the Church for her family. Well... sadly thats about it for this week. I'm hoping that next week I'll lots of new and awesome people to tell y'all about. It was a good week though and went by pretty fast. Its interesting to see the trends that happen in life. For example, this week we talked to a lot of people who go to non-denominational churches. I have thought a lot about that... I feel bad for those people. Yes they are being good Christians and going to church, but if you really think about it they are living beneath their potential and are okay with it. When people/churches don't require any real change or work, then what is the motivation? If they don't think that God requires them to change and improve and grow, then they don't understand the purpose of this life, or really the nature of God. If you go to church every week and your preacher tells you what a good job you are doing and how much Jesus loves you for just trying, then where is the growth? Do you leave with any real determination to become something more or do you know what you need to change to become more like Christ? I think of General Conference and the talks by the general authorities or President Monson. We leave those talks feeling up lifted and motivated even when we get chastised- like with Elder Holland :). We are called on to become better and to rise above the things of the world- and we know that we have lots of things to change and improve, yet we know that we are doing it because we have the goal to become like our Heavenly Father and we know the purpose of this life. I don't know if any of that makes sense but just some thoughts from this week... Anyway... I'm short on time but that was my week! I hope y'all have a great week. I miss and love y'all! I hope the good Lord continues to bless you and your families this week! Go Cougars!! Love Always, Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 63

Hey everyone!!

Oh man what a week... part of it feels like it flew by and then the other part feels like it has been a month. So I'll start at the beginning. So like I said last week Hna. Ker wasn't feeling well and we were just kinda letting it take it's course. On Monday night we left a dinner appointment at 6:30 and she started coughing and wasn't feeling good at all, so we texted Sister Saylin to see what we should do and she was going to call us after FHE. Well Hna. Ker coughed almost non-stop for about an hour until Sister Saylin called at 7:45. She then had the area medical advisor call us to talk to Hna. Ker to see what we should do, she was having a little bit of a hard time breathing because of the coughing. The medical advisor told us that we should probably go to an urgent care- so we called Sister Saylin back and she gave us the address of one in Sugar Land. So we left Pearland at 8:30 and got there at 9:00 and didn't end up leaving until 10:45. It turns out she had/has bronchitis and an ear infection, so we where there for a bit getting things all figured out and having them call in her prescriptions and chatting with Sister Saylin who came a little after we got there. So we left Sugar Land at 10:45 and headed back. They called her prescriptions into a Walgreens but it wasn't the one I thought it was so then at 11:20 I had to call the Saylins back so we could figure it out. So I finally figure out which one it is, about 10 minutes away and we get there about 11:45. (I'm pretty sure the reason for calling in a prescription is so that when you show up 45 minutes later it's ready for you.. reminds me of "You know how to TAKE a reservation but you don't know how to HOLD the reservation" - ha ha) Anyway- we get there at its not ready so we wait in Walgreens until 12:45 am and then finally get back to the apartment at 1:00 am Tuesday morning. Such a great start to the week. Then Hna. Ker was pretty much ordered to sleep and rest so she did that until about Thursday. We would go out for an appointment here and there through the week but nothing big. So that it was our week until she was feeling better on Friday- and Friday we had a fantastic day and we ended up having one of the best weeks I have had in a long time lesson- wise.

In our planning this week I asked Hna. Ker what she thought the Lord wanted us to put have as our goal for 'other' lessons (investigators only) and she thought about it and said 6- at first I have to admit that I was very skeptic and was ready to make it a little lower because we already set a goal of 5 member-present lessons (lessons with investigators and members) and we hadn't had that many investigator lessons in long time; but I remembered a story President Saylin told us in our trainers meeting about how when he got to his mission he set a whole bunch of goals that were really outrageous and his trainer supported him and it was probably the best week of his mission; I agreed with her on 6 and committed myself to do everything to hit that goal. I was worried but the Lord provided, we didn't get 6 'other' lessons but we over shot our goal on member presents (7) and hit our goal to have 11 investigator lessons last week. It really all happened in the 3 days we had to work and it was a miracle, I'm thankful for President Saylin's about his trainer so that I could see the hand of the Lord and that we could have a great week that added some new investigators to our pool and helped some others progress a little more... which leads to the Investigator Weekly!

RJ: We are working with his mom right now with a couple doubts/misunderstandings she has that she has finally told us about and we are trying to help her see that the time when she was most happy in her life was when she was really involved in the Church. In her heart she knows its true but the adversary just gets into her thoughts and makes her doubt a lot of things. She was raised to fear God and we are trying to help her see that he is out loving Heavenly Father and that she is His daughter and that he doesn't really punish us. We will get there, but RJ's baptism is on hold until then.

Victor: He is all set to get baptized this weekend on Sunday after church and I'm really excited! We would appreciate your prayers so that we can have a little extra help making sure everything works out.

Sarina: We had a good little lesson with her this week on the way back from a fireside with a member, so hopefully she will start thinking about it more. We still haven't met her parents but hopefully this weekend.

Well thats about it for today- time is a little short. I hope that everything is going well for y'all. Spring is pretty much here and I hope stays for a long time, it makes me happy and I love the 75 degree weather with a slight breeze. I think we are actually going to go to the park for P-day and write letters outside, I'm stoked because I'm tired of being white! ha ha Well I love y'all and hope that y'all have a great week! Go Cougars!!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 62

Hey everyone!

Well I survived week 1 of training and it hasn't been too bad. My trainee is Hermana Lindsey Ker from Idaho Falls. We get along pretty well and she has the greenie fire which is becoming a little contagious, which is a good thing. When you have been a missionary for a while its not as easy to get excited about things super fast. I mean I still get excited and I love the work but I have seen enough to know that not everyone we give a card to will call the number or check out the website. I hope they do, but most likely they won't, but its okay, I'm not going to rain on her parade and who knows maybe I will start having more faith in the people on the street. It's always good to have a change and to remember what it was like when I first got to the mission. Her Spanish is a lot better than mine was and she isn't afraid to talk to people or to stumble through her Spanish.We will hopefully see a lot of miracles this month and I am excited, I'm just praying that certain things fall into place. Here we go with the last Investigator Weekly of February!!

RJ: So... we had a lesson Thursday and it went really well. We went over the baptismal questions and he rocked it and we were just stoked for this weekend and we set a time and were excited to set everything up. Then about 15 minutes after we left their house we got a text from his mom saying that they had a family talk and they didn't think that he is ready so they were cancelling the baptism right now... my heart broke. RJ wants to get baptized and understands why he wants to do it and what it means... I just don't know what we need to do to get the parents on board. We are going to see them tomorrow and I'm really praying that we can figure out what the real problem is so that we can resolve it and have RJ get baptized this month. The ward is super supportive and the boys love coming to primary. I'll let y'all know next week what happens.

Victor: Well yesterday he came to church and he has now decided that he thinks that its okay to be baptized when you are 9 or 10 and so I told him that 9 was the right age and then he agreed. I then asked him if he would like to be baptized in a couple weeks and he said yes again! He now has a date for March 10 or 11 (depending on if we wanna do it a Saturday or Sunday). I feel that it is pretty solid, we just need to make sure that his mom is okay with the date - she wasn't there yesterday because she was sick- and then just pray that nothing comes up between now and then to derail it. He is a great kid and I'm excited for him.

Serena: So yesterday we talked with the Carters- the member family who brings her to church every week- to set up a time that we could meet Serena's parents this weekend to have them be okay with us teaching her. Her parents pretty much already consider her a member so we just need to do a little thing called baptism to make it official! ha ha

Well that is about it- we had a good weekend. Hna. Ker came to Texas with an intense cold and nothing has seemed to work to make it better so we were kinda in limbo this weekend trying to work hard and yet rest enough to help her get better. Hopefully she will get better soon so we can work hard and see what the Lord has in store for us this month. I'm excited, all of our kid investigators are willing- we just need to get the lame parents on board! ha ha. It has been a struggle this week with feeling so overwhelmed with trying to take care of my little trainee and with reaching our goals. I have to remind myself all the time that its a marathon, not a sprint and that I don't have to teach her everything in one day. She is super willing to work hard and to talk to people which makes my job a little easier. I'm really grateful that she isn't homesick because how could I tell her not to be when I was homesick for a good part of the beginning of my mission? ha ha The important thing is that no matter what comes or how you feel that you push through it and never give up. That is one thing I have learned, I have developed some self discipline and diligence over the last 14 months. I actually run about a mile every other morning- as y'all know I hate running and I hate it even more with not being able to distract myself with music or watching TV, but I have been able to discipline myself and push through it and now I'm getting in pretty good shape- it also helps that I have the motivation of being in shape to hike Machu Picchu right after I get home- but it is amazing that when you have the determination to do something and to finish it all the way through, that it just becomes a characteristic and it makes doing everything else easier. Well I hope that everything is going well with y'all. I am super appreciative of the letters, your prayers, and your love and support. I hope the good Lord continues to bless y'all. I hope that y'all have a good week! Love y'all! Go Cougars!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 61

Hey everyone!!

Well... another week has come and gone in the great Texas Houston South Mission... and everywhere else around the world. We had a decent week and the cherry on top was the meeting with Elder D. Todd Christofferson last Saturday. It was fantastic and he is a very funny and personable guy who is very pensive as well. It was crazy because it was originally planned to be at the Bering building and so we got there early and got pretty good seats, but it was raining super hard and the parking lot had turned into a lake so there wasn't enough parking spots- so then they moved it to the Eldridge building so we all had to book it over there because it was pretty late when they changed so everyone was already at the building. So we booked it over there and we had some friends save us some seats so we got 4th row seats which were better than our first ones! It was awesome though. He talked about a lot of different things and I have a lot of things to improve on, but it was definitely a highlight of the mission by far, and something that I will always remember. So that what the big news this week. Oh yeah... also... I learned that I'm staying in Manvel and.... TRAINING... WHAT?? I feel super overwhelmed and nervous and unqualified. How can I train? I feel like I just got to the mission and I still have no idea what is going on sometimes! I love Manvel but I had prepared myself mentally to leave... I have been here a long time and its only going to get longer. This area doesn't have a lot of turn over but its all good, we found some new people this week that I am excited for so it should be good. That all leads me to... the Investigator Weekly!!

RJ: They came to all 3 hours of church yesterday and it was great. They loved it and RJ is super excited for his baptism on March 3. They are just great and as they start coming to Primary more and more it will get even better!

Cadena Family: They are our new people that we are super excited about. So we have known for a couple weeks that they spoke Spanish but they were never there when we knocked. Last week we finally found them home and the dad- Alberto- brought 2 of his daughters to the Branch activity last week and they had a good time. They have 6 kids and they are awesome. So last night we stopped by to try and set something up and Alberto and Veronica pulled up right after we got there from the store, so we helped them carry in the groceries and put them away. Veronica has a lot of friends that are members and has been to Relief Society activities and they have gone to a lot of church activities also. They were super nice and she invited us to say for dinner so we did and then we did the dishes after- service always works :). We had a good conversation through all of this about her thoughts about the church and some of the questions she had. We ate with them and then watched some 'I'm A Mormon' (www.mormon.org plug- ha ha) videos that she could relate to, and then asked them if they would be interested in learning more. We bore our testimonies that this wasn't a 'chance' meeting and that they have had a lot of contact with the Church for a reason. She agreed and we promised that if they would investigate the church with real intent they would find what they were looking for and would have some hurt healed and have a more unified family. They are super awesome and it was a great night and a great meeting- I am really, really excited for them.

Mosqueda Family: Jaime and Oscar came to Mutual last week and they enjoyed it. We are having a little trouble with their mom, just getting her to sit down long enough to have a real lesson but it will happen soon. They are pretty great though and are making friends with some of the youth of the branch.

Well... that's it for this weeks edition. We have a couple other people that have potential and I am praying that some things fall into place so that it can happen. Things are good out here though... I am just plugging along and doing my best to do what I'm supposed to. This whole training thing will be a new experience and not one that I really wanted. It was funny- so what happens is that on Sunday night is when President Saylin calls to tell you that you are training. So last night we had got back to the apartment about 9:15 pm and I was washing my hands and I just got this feeling that President was going to call and that I was training... and I didn't want to believe it. I watched the clock all through planning and relaxed a little as the night got a little later and later... and then at about 9:45 it happened. The phone rang and it was President. Hna. Mathews said that she wasn't going to answer it so I just kinda looked at it about about 15 seconds before I answered it. I know that the Lord qualifies those whom he calls. I had just been trying to figure out my standing before the Lord, and then he calls me to do more work. It's kind of like Joseph Smith's experience when he was trying to find his standing before the Lord. It was a couple years after the First Vision and he wanted to know where he stood and then the angel Moroni came and put him to work with the Book of Mormon. I guess that's how we know, when the Lord trusts us with more responsibility we know that we are good before him- as overwhelming as that might be.

I hope y'all have a great President's Day and that everything is going well for y'all. I hope that y'all have a good week and that the Lord continues to bless you and your families. I know that the Lord is always with us, especially during our time of afflictions. I know that through repentance and the Atonement we can be clean of our past transgressions and grow to stand before the Lord. I know that families can be together forever and I know that the only way to true, eternal happiness is through Jesus Christ and the church he leads. If it didn't know all of that I wouldn't be on a mission- the hardest thing I have ever done; but it has also been the most rewarding and I wouldn't change it for anything. I love y'all and miss y'all. Go Cougars!!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Ber

Letters from Kelsey - 60

Oh hey there everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!! It really means nothing to me as a missionary but its all good because it never was really a big day before the mission either! Bahaha. I do want to tell y'all that I love you and appreciate your friendship, example, love, and support! Thanks for everything! So this email is going to be a little bit happier then my last ones, I realize that I have been a little pessimistic lately and that I really need to change my attitude! So consider it changed! ha ha. So! Now to the investigator weekly and then we will have a little chat!

RJ: He set a baptismal date for March 3! So yesterday Christi called us and said that her youngest boys - Luke and Daniel- didn't want to go to church so we called them and bribed them with gum balls. It worked with Daniel but not Luke, so we had a member go and pick up RJ and Daniel for church. They loved Primary and we had a lesson with them after church and RJ was super happy- church fixes everything. Christi was disappointed that she couldn't go but we chatted with Luke so hopefully next week will go better. They are starting to read more and I'm excite for them- its different now because RJ is excited so he is willing to do everything.

Serena: She is 11 and goes to the English ward as well. Her family aren't comfortable with the Elders teaching her so we got permission! She has a super cool story- she learned about the Church in her History class and that's where the interest started. She had a couple friends who where LDS and so she started going to church with them. She has been coming for over 6 months and the Elders never realized that she wasn't a member so its taken a little while to start teaching her but she is awesome. She already has a set ride every week and her parents are in full support and pretty much already consider her a member. Hopefully she can get baptized soon!

Victor: We didn't get a chance to see him this week because his mom's phone isn't working so its hard to get a hold of her but things are still going forward and we hope that he can get baptized pretty soon.

We had a couple other miracles happen this week with new people and I'm hoping that the start progressing so that I can tell y'all about them! It was a rough week, nothing worked out the way we wanted but its all good- all part of the job. Oh! cool news! On Saturday Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to speak to the Houston missions! Cool huh! I'm super stoked. Another thing- this week we had an interesting conversation with a lady who's neighbor is a member and we answered some questions for her. It was the nicest bible bash I have had- but that's really all it was because she just wanted to know our beliefs on things and our reason for believing them. We talked about everything from the Fall to eternal marriage, to our belief that we can become like God to prophets. It made me really grateful for the clarity and simplicity of the gospel. Just because these are things from God doesn't mean that they have to be complex or that we can't understand them. It was a little bit of a difficult conversation for me because everything was so logical yet she didn't understand. It was just very interesting and I have thought a lot about it. I know that our Heavenly Father is a God of order and that his plan is a plan of love, and that he wants it to be simple so that we can understand it and so that we can know what we need to do to become like him. I'm thankful for my testimony and knowledge.

Well I hope y'all have a good week and are super nice to your loved ones! We are about to head out into the rain but it will be a good day! Love y'all! Go Cougars!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 59

Hey everyone,

Well another week has come and gone and this week I have learned that I really don't like agency and I just wish that there was a button that I could push that could turn off people's agency so they could do what I wanted them to do so they could see the blessings that would come from it! And yet I'm sure that is what plenty of people have wanted to do with me over the years when I thought I knew better and now I know that I really don't. Unfortunately there is no way to turn off people's agency and it has been a struggle for me to not get super frustrated with them (losing about 5 years off my life I'm sure) and to want to give up and just go back to a time when my salvation was all I had to worry about and not the salvation of other people. I know that we did everything possible this week to help people progress and come to church, and yet they didn't... and I'm beginning to become okay with that. I'm sad that they don't use their agency in the way that I know would bring them happiness, yet I am confident that they were given sufficient information to be able to decide correctly if they chose. Anyway- that is enough of my little rant today! Now to the Investigator Weekly!

Andrea: She is first because this is probably the last time she will be featured. She told us all this week that she would come to church and she was even praying that it would be possible. We brought members over and even told her of the importance of church. Her husband didn't come home from work this weekend which made it a whole lot easier for her to come because she didn't have him wanting to go do things. We watched the Restoration DVD with her and she said that she knew after watching it that she needed to be baptized and we told her what she needed to do for that to happen... and yet! She didn't come to church because her baby had a runny nose... that he didn't have on Saturday when we were over there. We have done all we can with her, we have taught her all that we can and she has progressed all that she can with out going to church- it is all her decision and she hasn't taken that step...

RJ: We had a really good lesson with them this week and even had dinner with the whole family and the dad joined in for the closing prayer which was huge. They didn't come to church either because they over slept and it was their anniversary- and maybe the Super Bowl had something to do with it. We are trying to help them understand that everything they want in life can be accomplished only by them coming to church. It might be bad to say but I kinda hope they have a rough week so they can really feel the difference of a week when they go to church and a week when they don't. They are still progressing though- they will get there soon.

Victor: His dad came and got him this weekend even though we were praying he wouldn't, but we are hoping to have him baptized next Sunday! Pray that we can get a couple chances to see him this week!

That is about all I have time for, I need to do a better job managing my time, but we have some potentials that I'm super excited to tell y'all about next week! I hope to be able to feel the Investigator Weekly with people that will use their agency to follow the commandments of Christ so that they can receive the blessings and stop stressing me out! ha ha Well I hope that y'all have a fantastic week and that y'all keep out of trouble! Love and miss y'all!! Go Cougars!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 58

Hey everyone!!!

Well... another week has come and gone and I once again decided that I don't like the city and I am very content in my little Manvel. We had exchanges this week and for the first time I am the one that left. I went to Houston 4 which is on the edge of Sugar Land and Houston. Sugar Land is all good and dandy but I do not like the city, which is very unfortunate because if I get transferred on the 22nd I will most likely get sent to the city... oh well such is life. It was a good week though- RJ and his family and Victor came to church yesterday!!! YEAH!!! I was stoked... yet we had other investigators that did not come- yet again- that just make me want to give up... what can ya do. Well here we go in to the Investigator Weekly!

RJ: As I said they came to church yesterday!! It was great. We had a church tour with them this week... which was not as spiritual as we wanted, but we did have a good talk with his mom. Her life is really hard right now and we are trying to help her realize that to accomplish everything she wants all she needs to do is come to church. She wants to be happier- church; she wants her kids to behave more- church; she wants to get a job- church= blessings. She keeps telling us that when she was happiest in her life was when she was going to and was really involved in the Church! They came yesterday though and I'm praying that she recognizes that her week will be tons better. She also invited us over for dinner this week so we can talk to her husband! This is HUGE!! He has not liked missionaries in the past and has not wanted them over when he was home- so the fact that he is open to us coming over to a big step. We are hoping that if they keep coming to church then RJ can be baptized on the 18th.

Victor: They came to church yesterday as well! We are trying to get things changed a little this month with his dad coming to get him so that he can come to church next week also and then get baptized on the 11th. It has just been hard because his dad comes and gets him every other Sunday most weeks so its hard to get him at church regularly but we are trying to switch it to two weekends in a row with his mom so he can get baptized and then two weekends in a row with his dad- we find out tonight if it will work!

Andrea: She didn't come to church even though she promised... I don't know what to do... maybe it just isn't her time. There is a part missing and we just don't know what it is. We have a lesson tonight and we are going to watch the Restoration DVD and kind of state our purpose and she what she says. I don't want to drop her but if its not her time then there is nothing I can do.

Musqueda Family: They are pretty awesome. We just started teaching them and they are already reading the Book of Mormon. They are so willing to learn but they are super busy so its hard to meet a lot with them. They are just English enough to where they are willing to work for things and to where they are willing to do a little more work to find stuff out, yet still Spanish enough for us to teach them! Gotta love it! Mayra- the mom- wants her family to eat dinner together every night and wants her kids to be involved with good kids and everything. They are great and I'm excited for them to come to the activities on Wednesday night!

Well that's about it for today. OH! Just kidding. So a couple weeks ago some members invited us over to have some cake for their little girls birthday. We sang happy birthday and they recorded it and put it on youtube and I got the link for y'all! I haven't seen it yet, but it was fun to be with them. Y'all are invited to check it out if you want! The title of the video is: Cumple Anne 3. And the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj6czFyp7c I hope it works for y'all! This is with the Leija family who will be getting sealed this month when the husband completes his one year as a member! They are so great! Well I'm out of time but I hope y'all have a good week and that the Lord blesses ya! Love and miss y'all! Go Cougars!!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 57

Hey everyone,

Well I don't really have a whole lot to report this week... It was a good week and yet we didn't have anyone at church again. I have decided that sometimes all you have to do is just keep swimming. We get members involved and yet the dice haven't really rolled in our favor these last couple of weeks. All we can do is do our best and know that it is all in the hands of the Lord and have faith that we will know what do to next. I guess these are character building weeks right? ha ha, I'm sure that all of that bike riding and talking to English people who we can't teach anyway is just building my character... like digging holes right? Ya just do what ya gotta do and try not to get frustrated with people's agency... here is our Investigator Weekly...

RJ: We are really working with his mom right now because if she gets a stronger testimony then he will come with her. She has some struggles with the Word of Wisdom that we are working through right now but she wants to change and she has seen the difference that the church makes in her life. She talked this week about how even though her problems aren't any less or any easier, she has a different view of them and for some reason they don't get her down as much. Its all about faith baby! oh... and a little eternal perspective. She has been working really hard to read the Book of Mormon every night with her 4 boys but they get bored and don't have that long of an attention span so we are trying to help her have a long term perspective and not to focus on the frustration she feels now when its not perfect. I shared with her about my childhood and how I would sleep through scripture study in the mornings with my family and how I would complain in the mornings and during Family Night (I know you are shocked right now- me complain? Never), but I knew that every morning we would read the scriptures- it was just what we did in my home. We told her that one day RJ and the other boys will be on missions somewhere in the world and they will be talking about their mom and how she did it all by herself even when they complained and didn't pay attention. - Thanks Mom and Dad for sticking with it all even though I complained about how I wanted to watch football or basketball instead or how I would text during family night, I won't do it when I get home I promise. :)

Victor: We didn't get a chance to see him this last week because his mom was recovering from having a baby and then he didn't come to church yesterday because he was at his dad's. His mom and step-dad came to church though and we set something up with them for this next week. He just needs to come to church twice to get baptized so as soon as that happens he will be baptized, I'm hoping that February 18 will be the day.

Andrea: I havent' told y'all about her yet I don't think. She is 25 with 4 kids and is progressing slowly. She was supposed to come to church yesterday and when we showed up before church the kids were all ready and we were super happy... then she came out and told us that her nephew was doing his first communion in the Catholic church and her sister-in-law asked them to come... and it started the exact same time as ours... so yeah... I have faith for next week though! ha ha

Well I'm out of time- sorry the email is so short this week. OH!!! AND!!! Gabriel Jr. and David passed the sacrament yesterday!!!! It was one of the best Sundays ever just for that reason! They are such a great family and the branch loves them and they are just growing, improving, and moving right along! I can't wait to see them in the temple one day! Oh and Hno. De Hoyos even quit drinking! They just make me so happy. Thats about it for this week. I hope y'all have a good week and that y'all are keeping the faith! Love y'all!! Go Cougars!!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 56

Disclaimer! This is Lindsey, Kelsey's sister. I know I've been terrible at updating her blog recently. My bad. Here are all of her e-mails from January and February. And, just as a reminder, she comes home the end of June, and I'm sure she would love to hear from you before then! Her address, once again is:
Sister Kelsey Berg
Texas Houston South Mission
602 Eldridge Rd.
Sugar Land, TX 77478
So write Kelsey a letter! you know you want to!

Hey everyone!

I hope y'all had a good week! We had a pretty decent week and it all ended with a pretty lucky baptism! So as I told y'all before, when the De Hoyos' records came in Bryan (12) didn't have a baptismal date and we couldn't find any other record or anything of his baptism so he had to get baptized again! The lucky kid. It was the easiest thing ever, when you have a fantastic family- not perfect by any definition- but a family that loves to come to church and wants to improve, all you have to do as the missionaries is make sure the baptism happens and make sure to get the date and everything is filled out correctly this time- ha ha. Because of Bryan's baptism it was a very good weekend, yet at the same time it was very frustrating because we went into Sunday with some good solid commitments from people to come to church... and yet none of them showed up. It puts me right on the edge of giving up and throwing all of them out the window and starting over... but then I take a step back and cool down and try to have more patience with them. This is when it gets difficult, they are reading the Book of Mormon and doing the things we ask them to do, yet they don't come to church and that is where the real progression takes place. You see their progress with reading the Book of Mormon and all the things like that, but if they don't come to church after making the commitment you have to do a self-evaluation and see what things you can do different to help them come to church, or you see that you have done all you can and that they are using their agency and choosing not to come to church; or that they really aren't prepared for the gospel at this time in their life. It is with decisions like this that you really have to use your faith in the Lord, that if you pray about it and do all you can He won't let you drop someone who really is ready. Anyway, our Investigator Weekly is full of kids this week!

Victor: He is 9 and they live on our border with Missouri City, 2 of his uncles live on our side of the border with their families and are now coming to our branch. They all want to come to church together so they have received that permission to come, which means that Victor was passed to us! He has been taught everything and now only needs to come to church twice so he can be baptized on February 4th. Well... early Sunday morning his mom had her baby so he didn't come to church... hopefully this week though. They are the greatest family though and all 3 families are so funny. He is a great kid and I'm excited to keep teaching him!

RJ: Well... things have been a little slow with him recently because they were busy last week so we couldn't meet with them and then on Saturday night they had a late night and they slept through the alarm for 9:00am church. We are planning to meet with them tomorrow and I hope that things will start to pick up again. He is a great kid though, we just have to help his mom strengthen her testimony so that church will be a bigger deal to her, which in turn will mean that he comes to church. I hope to have a really good report for them next week.

This week was pretty cold out here in Texas, we rode bikes a lot this past week and on Thursday it was like 50 degrees and with the wind it was about 35. It was so cold and I froze, but its all good because that is what a mission is all about! Sweating your brains out for a couple months and then about 4 months later feeling like a popsicle as dogs chase us on bikes down a dirt road in an area with of trailers where everyone we talk to is a Jehovah's Witness... oh the life of a missionary. Things are going well out here though and the work continues to progress and I continue to learn that I know absolutely nothing about how anything works. The days and weeks go by and I end each day hoping that I made even the littlest of difference in my small part of the vineyard. I hope that everything is well with y'all. I love and miss y'all! Have a great week! Go Cougars! :)

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 55

Hey everyone!

Our week was okay- nothing too exciting to report I feel like. I get to stay in Manvel for another transfer which I am excited about! We are staying together which is good because I get to stay in Manvel but we have some personality differences which are a little difficult but it's all good... I can survive another 6 weeks. Okay so its really not as bad as that last phrase made it sound but I'm learning patience... which is good, and hey! I'm sure I'm not that easy to live with either so Kudos to her that she hasn't killed me yet! ha ha There is obviously still more I need to learn and we should have a successful transfer so I am excited. So here is our Investigator Weekly!

De Hoyos: So Gabriel Jr. and David got the priesthood yesterday!! YEAH!!! Oh and also a funny story... so when the families records came we found out that Bryan (12) didn't have a baptismal date on his records... so guess who is getting baptized next Sunday after church! ha ha. They are so solid though and I just love seeing the change and progress in them. They haven't missed church once since we met them- including Christmas and New Years, which is more than I can say for most of our members! haha. Yesterday we didn't go to any of the classes because we were with Anahi (7) trying to get her to go to Primary. She went their first week and loved it, I don't know what changed but she hasn't wanted to go the last couple times. She cried pretty hard because she didn't want to go so we took some time and just sat on some chairs in the hall and talked to her about why we go to Primary and just kinda let her figure it out for herself. It was amazing to see the Spirit work within this little 7 year old to change her mind and make her want to go. We sat with her for most of it and then sneaked out of class and she ended up loving it - of course- so we hope that next week we won't have a problem.

RJ: So he had a birthday party on Saturday and we went by to help them set up before and it was really good. His dad was there and it was really good to get some face time with him so that he could feel more comfortable with us- he even invited us for dinner (which was BBQ) so of course we accepted. They didn't come to church yesterday though which kinda put a wrench in things because he needs to come once more before he gets baptized- so right now we are planning on the 21st. His mom has some concerns right now about it that we will work out tomorrow but I know that the Spirit will work miracles. He is such a great kid and his mom really does know about the gospel and she knows its true, we just need to help her realize that she has a testimony.

Well... thats about it. I wish people would come to church so they could be progressing. One of the hardest things as a missionary for me is the emotional involvement... I just get so emotionally involved with these people and they tell me they will come to church and they are excited to come and I just get so excited... and they no one shows up and you just get disappointed. It is very tiring to care so much about other peoples salvation... especially when it seems that they don't care. I can do manual labor all day and not really get tired... but when it comes to emotional attachments and emotional disappointments I just get wiped out every day. Such is the life of a missionary. Well we just got a flash flood warning from our Zone Leaders, no tornadoes yet though should be a good day! ha ha I hope y'all have a great day! Love and miss y'all! Go Cougars!

Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 54

Hey everyone!

So... ya know how a couple weeks ago I said it was the longest week ever... well I lied. That week was just destroyed by this last week!! ha ha I believe it was the longest week in the history of the world! I officially don't like holidays as a missionary :). My holidays were good but was really hard to do missionary work this last week with everyone on vacation. It was really hard to set appointments because family would suddenly show up or they would go somewhere so our appointments would fall through and no one wanted to come to church the last two Sundays, but that is all over now and people are getting back into their routines so it should be good and I'm looking forward to some success. I hope that y'all had a fun and safe New Year's weekend! We had a very non-exciting weekend and were in bed, like normal, at 10:30 and woke up, like normal, at 6:30! ha ha People really like fireworks out here for New Years though so there were fireworks going off all night. I guess they can do that when they don't have snow and when its still 55 degrees outside... ha ha.

We were super blessed this last week and now we are teaching this awesome little kid named RJ... which leads me into the... Investigator Weekly: 2012 edition!

RJ: He is the son of a less active member in the Silverlake Ward (English). Her name is Christi and her husband isn't a member and doesn't really like missionaries and doesn't want them there when he is home and they don't feel comfortable with her being alone with the Elders and the male member that they would have to bring so we got permission to teach them! We first stopped by Christi at the beginning of the month because a member in our ward told us about her so we stopped by to get to know her before we handed her over. Well when we found out that we would get to teach them we stopped by last Thursday and extended the date of January 7th to RJ because his birthday is the 8th! He accepted but we went by yesterday and we changed it to the 14th because they want to do a big BBQ after and invited family and friends (that aren't members) and so they wanted some time to prepare. We were all for it and it was great to see how excited Christi is for RJ. She is trying to regain her testimony after being out of the church for a couple years so it is great to see them progressing together and starting to read and pray as a family.

He is our only investigator that is really progressing but we hope that the end of the holidays will help everyone else get their act together. Well next week is transfers so we will see what happens... I really want to stay in Manvel but I just don't know... guess we will see! Well I love y'all and hope that 2012 is very good to all of you! Love y'all! Go Cougars!

Love always,
Sister Kelsey Berg

Letters from Kelsey - 53

Hey howdy hey y'all!!!

Oh man, oh man. Well this is the... last... email... of 2011 from this little missionary! Craziness huh!! Yeah I think I made that word up- oh well. Anyway- I had a good Christmas and I hope y'all had a good Christmas as well! This was a little bit of slow week missionary work wise with everyone having family over and lots of parties, but it was also a good one. On Saturday (Christmas Eve) we had a mission conference and it was a super fun day. So it started at 8:30 and we had a little training in the morning- we need to be more focused on finding and we talk about how to improve our contacting. All things that I need to improve on and things that have been rough for me my whole mission. I know you will all find this hard to believe but I do not like talking to random strangers- I don't know why it bothers me because I have never had anyone be mean to me before in a contact but I very much have the fear of men every time before I talk to someone. The only way to make it get better is to practice, practice, practice right? So this little missionary has made a New Year's resolution to not let the fear of men win! We will see how it goes :).

So we had our training and then we got our present from our Mission President and his family. A couple months ago Sister Saylin asked us all to submit the story of a miracle and she put them all together in a nice hardback book! It is really cool and the miracle I submitted was the story of Nidia and her family. After that we were super lucky to watch the movie '17 Again'! Ha ha just kidding we watched '17 Miracles', which is a really good movie about the Willie/ Martin Handcart Company and their stories of crossing the plains. It was super intense and it was a nice little break. We then had an amazing dinner with fruit, steak, homemade bread, potatoes, chicken, sausage, and so much more! It was then time for a gift exchange and a talent show! To finish the night we watched a slide show of pictures from 2011 and then we went off into the night. It was lightly raining and there was low cloud cover, about as close to snowing as is possible in Texas! We then we to the Hironymous' house (our branch president and his family) and had dinner with them and did a little Christmas Eve program and then back to the apartment!

Christmas we woke up at 6:30 like every other day and opened presents (Thank you to y'all for the Christmas cards, letters and packages! Love ya!). After all that we headed back to the Hironymous' where we had breakfast and I had my Christmas call and then we went to church! There were only about 30 people at church and 10 of them were the De Hoyos! ha ha (the Chavezs were also there!) It was a good day and then we just spent the afternoon visiting members and investigators and just spreading a little Christmas cheer! I hope y'all had a good one as well!

Things are a little slow right now but we have some plans this week that we are excited for and we are looking forward to a strong week to start 2012 with a bang! No one really worth writing about this week but I promise to have people to write about next week! Well I hope y'all have a safe New Year's weekend and I will talk to y'all next year! (bahaha, I'm so funny) Love y'all! Go Cougars!!

Love Always,
Sister Kelsey Berg