Week 8--Happy New Year!

I want to thank everyone who sent Christmas cards and gifts! I really appreciated them!

It looks like they are having fun at the Christmas party.

The stocking my mom and grandma made for me.

Monday

Someday we will do something fun for P-day, but last week was not it. Elder Thomas and the other Sisters in Reading 1st practiced the song they were going to do at the Christmas zone conference/devotional. I was supposed to sing with them, but I don't have enough experience to do it.

Tuesday

We spent a good part of the day calling people. We found out that one of our investigators, Scott, was in rehab because of a heart problem and he would be there until after the new year. We visited him later in the day to find out how he was doing. He has not received many visitors, so he was happy to see us.

Wednesday

We had the long awaited Christmas Conference. President Anderson and Sister Anderson shared brief Christmas messages. President Anderson also told us how much of a blessing that it was to be able to call home. When he was on his mission to Japan, the first time he was able to call home was when he was 19 months out. Afterwards, we played a game of Jeopardy using questions from "Preach my Gospel" and my zone won. We had a short break and then we watched "17 Miracles." It is a really good movie about what the Willie Handcart company had to go though and what miracles happened along the way.

Thursday

Christmas, what more do I have to say? We had a meal appointment with members for all three meals, so we had more than enough food. We visited Scott again and showed him the "He is the Gift” video. I was able to Skype home and see my family! I wished I had more time to talk with them, but President Anderson told us to limit our time to only an hour because we needed to keep our hearts and minds in the mission field and on missionary work. Limited as it might have been, I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my family. I am looking forward to May when I can do it again.

Screen shot of Skype call.

Friday

We had a lesson with Diana, Tiffany and Reuben. We shared scriptures pertaining to repentance and resurrection. I don't remember what we were talking about, but Reuben said that he looks forward to meeting with us because it makes his day. He also has been able to control his temper better with his kids. He looks up to us and respects us. I am not sure what he specifically respects about us, but it is a nice feeling knowing that we are making a positive impact on somebody's life. We had dinner at the Robinson’s home. We also were able to decorate gingerbread men and houses. Sister Robinson sent pictures and sent them to mom. Mom here—Sister Robinson sent me the following email: We had the opportunity to have your son over tonight for dinner and gingerbread decorating (never got it done before Christmas)! Your son is a great pleasure! He is working very hard to learn the lessons and be a good missionary. Thank you so much for sharing him with us. As a missionary mom myself, I know how nice it is to get pics of my boy. Hope you enjoy!

Decorating gingerbread

That's my boy!

Saturday

We had weekly planning on Saturday because the district meeting was moved to Friday due to Christmas being on Thursday. I don't know what it is about weekly planning, but I still don't like it. The Sisters wanted to talk with us about the revelation they received during weekly planning so we met them at the church. They were trying to find ways how to improve the ward mission plan. They came up with some really good ideas, however we will need to talk about them with Brother Lamb, the ward mission leader.

Sunday

We had a really good day planned out, but nothing happened like we wanted it to. Almost everyone we wanted to see was not home or didn't want to answer the door. We were able to talk to Donna though and set up an appointment with her later in the week. She has a son who lives with her. From the sounds of it, he is very against the church which saddens me deeply, but I can't control what other people believe about the church. I just hope we can talk with him at some point and answer any questions he might have and try to soften his heart.


I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy new year!

Elder Bjerregaard

Week 7--Merry Christmas

Have a safe Christmas everyone. Have a Merry Christmas and a joyful holiday and enjoy the time you have with your family. By the way, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, but I don’t think I will get one, and I am fine with that :-).

Monday

Another P-Day, and another day we didn't do anything interesting/fun. I think part of the problem is not that there are not anything that interesting to do in my area. We did have a lesson later in the day with Donna. She was really receptive to the plan of salvation. We have not have a chance to have a lesson with her since, but I feel like if we can teach her more, she can become a strong member of the Church.

Tuesday

We had a lesson with another family. We showed them the "He is the Gift" video and they responded well. We didn't set a return appointment, but they seem really interested in learning more.

Wednesday

We had a lesson with Rafael. He says he is a member of the church, but when they have searched for his records in the past, they have not been able to find them. We explained to him that because we cannot find his record, he needs to be baptized again. He didn't sound too happy that he needs to be baptized again, but he was willing to be re-baptized if necessary. I'm not sure if he will follow through because he didn't seem really into it and I don't think he recognizes that it is a way of life.

Thursday

There is nothing of significance to report about today.

Friday

We had to go all the way to Topton for an interview for the Kutztown sister missionaries. Also it was weekly planning so we didn't get much teaching done. We did go on splits with Brother Lamb and Brother Farlow to help them with home teaching. One person we met with was a less active member, so we felt like it was a really good thing to do.

Saturday

We had a short lesson with a different Rafael. He had met with the missionaries around fourteen years ago but doesn't remember much. That is fine because I don't think they were using "Preach my Gospel" at that point (Preach my Gospel was introduced ten years ago). We also tried to meet with some less active members but for some reason they busy. They did say that they will be in Church the Sunday after Christmas.

Sunday


We had a lesson with Reuben and Tiffany. They have not been reading the Book of Mormon so we read the first Chapter in 1 Nephi with them. They had a hard time understanding what it said, but we read it slowly and explained it was saying.

Elder Bjerregaard

Week 6

Monday

Still nothing interesting happened on P-Day. We never seem to have time to go anywhere that would be interesting, but I did find out that there is an avionics museum in my area. I will like to get there before I get transferred. We had dinner at the Robinson's and they just got their Christmas tree. It is over eleven feet tall, but luckily they have a spot that they could stand it up.

Tuesday

We went on exchanges with Elder Bunker and Elder Leavitt. I was with Elder Bunker this time and I was in his area. Neither one of us are certified to drive a mission car, so we had to walk every place. For lunch, Elder Bunker took me to a Dominican place for a sandwich. It was good but I cannot remember what it is called. Elder Bunker is going home. He is on his way to the mission home as I write this, and going to fly out on Tuesday December 16th. It was nice that I had some time to be able to talk with him. I don't know why, but it will take him all day to get back to St. George, Utah.

Wednesday

We had another lesson with Diana and Tiffany. Diana's son was there this time, and that was perfect. We were planning to reteach them the restoration because we felt that they were having a hard time understanding what we were trying to teach them. They got really interested when we started to use pictures and Reuben committed to be baptized on January 10th. We also had dinner at Bishop Staus's. We talked about the mission plan and how we thought it could be improved.

Thursday

We had a couple of lessons that fell though. I wondered if people forget that they had made an appointment with us, or they thought that we wouldn't come. When we do, they don't want to answer the door. We ended up not being able to meet with anyone that we were planning on meeting with that day. So, we decided to go to Dairy Swirl. When we were there an older woman approached to us and asked about our name tags. We told her that we are missionaries from the church. She made a comment about the big family history library we have in Salt Lake City, so we invited her to meet us at the local family history center.

Back row: Sister Pike, Sister Neilson, Elder Thomas, Sister, McCuin, Sister Semmons, Elder Newbold, Elder Leavett
Front row: Elder Bjerregaard, Elder Bunker, Elder Hardy

Friday

The zone leaders sat in on part of the weekly planning. We managed to get it done in a more timely matter, but it still is taking longer then what "Preach My Gospel" says it should take. When we were going to the only appointment we had, they cancelled and rescheduled for the next day. Luckily, we planned backups for that time in the same area so it was not a wasted trip.

Saturday

We had a lesson with Scott. We ended up being a little late but we still managed to catch him before he left for the store. He is slow progressing, but he is learning for himself that what we have been teaching him is true. We tried to set up an appointment with him at the church but he gave no promises that he would be able to make it. We also had a lesson with Tiffany and Reuben. We shared with them the plan of salvation and talked about the temple. They are really excited about temples and want to go to one someday. We also whet caroling with Sister Pike and Sister Neilson. We were planning on having a big group, but only the missionaries made it.

Sunday

We had to get up early to make it to priesthood executive council. We don't talk much, but it is good that the bishop invites us because that means that he trusts us. We had lunch at the Smith's and then whet caroling. I don't know how they selected the people to go see and I don't really care. The important thing is we went. We did have to leave the group way through because we had a dinner appointment. After dinner, we finally managed to have a lesson with the Dillon’s. They want to be able to go to the temple before Elder Thomas goes home.

Q&A

How has your mission been? So far it has been going great.

How did you like the MTC? I loved the MTC, but it seems like forever ago since I was there.

Is it snowy and cold in Pennsylvania? Cold, yes. Snowy, not so much. Right now, we don't have any snow.

How is Philadelphia different than Wickenburg? I don't know. I have not been to Philadelphia, but Reading has a lot of row homes when you get closer to the center.

Have you had any cool spiritual experiences teaching people yet? I will say that the one when we showed Tiffany and Reuben the temple video counts.

Do you like your companion? We get along, but we do have our differences like anyone else.
Elder Bjerrgaard

Week 5

I really wish I was having the weather you are having back home. I wish the winter will go by quickly so I can get the warmer days of spring and summer. I believe people are more open to the gospel here because of the Christmas season. However, I don’t have much to compare because I have only been in the field for a month.

Monday

We helped a family move into their house that is new to the ward. To thank us, they treated us to a local Chinese buffet. We still did nothing special for P-day. I don't think there is much to do in my area but I can be wrong.

Tuesday

We got a letter from President Anderson telling us that weekly planning was being moved to Friday. This is because it was hard to do it on Tuesdays since we were really planning for two weeks.

Wednesday

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders because Elder Thomas is a district leader. I went with Elder Newbold into his area and Elder Hardy stayed in mine. I learned a lot from Elder Newbold. I think I am becoming more confident in my ability to teach people, at least bearing my testimony. We found out that one person who we were teaching has a warrant out for his, so we are not sure how to continue to teach him.

Thursday

My first zone training was on Thursday. To help new converts remain active in the church, the mission has been getting the missionaries certified as family history specialists. I don't think I needed it because of my calling as a ward family history consultant. After we had training, we went with Brother Waldbiesser to teach Chris. He understands that there is only one church that can bring us closer to God, but he doesn't know how to find out the answer.

Friday

We taught Diana a lesson. However, I am not sure how much she understood because there were distractions. Her daughter-in-law had little kids there and they were making a lot of noise. I think that she is really open to the gospel. We just need to find a way to teach her so she is able to understand and not have any distractions. We spend most of the day helping with the ward Christmas party. We set up all the tables and helped move the extra chairs from the cultural hall. I didn't see anyone who was not a member of the church, but it was a good time to spend getting to know the people in the ward and having some good food.

At the Christmas Party

Saturday

The sisters in the ward had a baptism. His family is not very supportive of his decision, but he is doing what he believes is right for him. That is really what it matters! Since we didn't have time to do weekly planning on Friday because we were setting up for the Christmas party, we did weekly planning. We got most of the way through, but we had to stop midway through because we had an appointment. Sadly that appointment didn't happen.

Sunday


We were hoping that we would have three investigators at church but none came. After, we tried to visit with them in their houses, but they weren’t home. That made me sad because they told us that they would be there, and they had found rides to get there.

We learned the church took over all the advertising on YouTube and I wonder how that went. I should find out in the coming weeks.

What made the day better was the First Presidency Christmas devotional. It was interesting how the General Authorities view the Christmas season and the stories they had to uplift us and to show us the true spirit of Christmas.


Elder Bjerregaard

Week 4--I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving

Monday

We stayed home all day because we didn't know what to do during the day.

Tuesday

Weekly planning, one of the things I have not liked to do during my mission took up all the morning. Elder Thomas is the district leader, so we went on exchanges with Elder Leavitt and Elder Bunker. I went with Elder Leavitt because Elder Bunker is not certified to drive a mission car, and neither am I for that matter. They are Spanish speaking so I didn't understand any of the lessons he taught.

Wednesday

For a while, I didn't know if I would be able to exchange back with Elder Thomas because it started to snow in the morning. The zone leaders live next door to the Spanish elders, so they spend the morning after study with Elder Leavitt and me. On Wednesdays, we have a conference call that the mission presidency uses to teach/share a gospel message. After the call, Elder Hardy called the assistants to find out if the cars were grounded. We found out that they were. During a time when the snow fall was light, I was brought back to end the exchange because we don't live that far away from each other. We ended up getting 2-3 inches of snow.

Thursday

A little late, but happy Thanksgiving everyone! I don't know if I was dreaming of a white Thanksgiving, but I got one. We had lunch with a member from another ward because their granddaughter lives in my ward and she invited us over for their main Thanksgiving meal. We shared a Thanksgiving video and asked them what they are thankful for. We were not able to meet with anyone that we hoped we could see, but we finished the evening at the Bishop's house. We meet some of his family and friends and the bishop made sure that they can talk to us any time.

Friday

It was a really good day on Friday. We were able to start showing the "He is the Gift" video with people. We gave a Book of Mormon to the brother-in-law of a member, and the member was surprised that he took it. We also meant with a guy from a part member family who Elder Thomas was trying to see for a while. He knows that the church is true and wants to be baptized. We set a date for him to try to be ready to be baptized. We also found out that a person who we were teaching was not a member of the church. He found his baptismal certificate and it was not from our church.

Saturday

We had lunch at the Dillon’s. His sister came to get some things from him that he was keeping for her. After some drama, we invited her to watch the Christmas video about Christ. She said that she is very opened minded and we got an appointment to meet with her on Wednesday. Elder Thomas did his first two baptismal interviews for the zone leaders.

Sunday

I don't know if I have already stated this, but for the moment, Reading 1st has a different meeting schedule then I have back home. The Priesthood, Relief Society, and young women meet first, then Sunday school, and then sacrament meeting. One of the stake employment specialists came and talked about what the employment specialists do, and the resources the church has to help people to find a job. I need to remember what he talked about because it could become handy when talking to people and then after my mission.

Elder Bjerregaard

We finally have A picture! (Day 1 at the MTC)

From Left to right. Elder Frok, Elder Weisler, Elder Roberts, Elder Clark, and finally Elder Bjerregaard

Week 3

Monday

Nothing significant happened during P-Day. After P-Day was over though, we did teach Dawn the plan of salvation. Right now, she has a baptismal date and I really believe she can make it.

Tuesday

We have weekly planning on Tuesdays. It took us most of the day to get though, but hopefully, we can get back to the two or three hours it should take us.

Wednesday

We spent most of the day trying to find people to teach. We contacted two referrals and then walked around Reading trying to find potential investigators. We were not able to talk to anyone we planned on, but we did help a family move into a townhouse. It took us an hour or so, but we did manage to get everything from the truck into the townhouse. Then we went to Brother and Sister Hazard’s home for dinner. Then we went back to Reading to try to meet the remaining people who we wanted to try to visit.

Thursday

We visited Sister Meade and she was planning on racking leaves on Monday, but we offered to do it on Saturday. After dinner, I had an interview with President Anderson. He explained how I can use the area book better. After, we went back down to Reading. We talked to Bill and we decided to stop meeting with him because he said that he would most likely not be convinced that Heavenly Father cares about his children.

Friday

We helped Brother Waldbiesser with moving some antiques into an antique store for an inactive member. We also meet Nathan when we were trying to talk to someone else who lives in the same household. Nathan has a very open mind and would be open to hearing more about the Gospel. We also finally got to visit with Sister Kershaw. The missionaries in Reading 1st get assigned home teaching families and she is a person on the list.

Saturday

We had the Sisters, and six other people that came to help Sister Meade. Together we made short work of the leaves and then we also racked the leaves of five of Sister Meade's neighbors. One said that we can come back and talk more about the Gospel. We also visited an inactive member. His grandfather owned a brewery here in Reading but lost it because the person that was to pay the taxes took the money instead of giving it to the government.

Sunday

This week, the missionaries in Reading 1st were invited to ward council. We talked about investigators and inactive members. We help the primary with a project that will help them be member missionaries.



I do like emails, so if you have time, don't be shy about emailing me. Michael would like to receive letters and emails. His contact information is located on the right. As with all missionaries, these letters and emails are his link to home. 

Elder Bjerregaard

Week 2--Leaving the MTC and Entering the Field

Before I forget, Happy Birthday Mom!

Wish I had a P-Day sooner. I didn't have another one at the MTC and was not given one when I got here, so this is the first chance I have had in over a week to write. President Anderson does not allow conversations though emails (email chats), so only one email per person per week. So don't try to be on the same time that I am because it will not do you any good.

I don't remember much between Wednesday and Monday and I don't have my journal with me to refer to so all this will be off of memory.

Monday

This was a really busy day! During the normal gym time, my district went to the laundry room to get what we had washed. When we got back, we did as much packing as we could until we had to leave for class. Bother Quick (not sure if that is how you spell it) let us go early to give us more time to pack.

Tuesday

We got up really early, around 2, in the morning and we had to be where the buses were by 3:30. There were 16 people in my travel group. For one reason or another, the ones on the bus were the ones going to the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission. Since it was so early, it took no time to get though security. Nothing much happened during our travel time outside of the normal travel experiences. President Anderson, his wife, the senior couples that work in the mission office, and the assistants where waiting for us right outside of the security check point. For dinner, we had lasagna and it was really good. I wonder when I will have lasagna again. One thing I learned is that in Philadelphia is that a Philly Cheese Steak is called a Cheese Steak.

Elder Bjerregaard with President and Sister Anderson

The new missionaries who arrived to the PPM.

Wednesday

We had to be ready to leave by 7:45 to get the mission office in time. There we had some training and then we were paired up with our new companions. We were then told where we are going to be staying for at least the next month and a half. I'm currently serving in the Reading 1st Ward and going to be with Elder Thomas. He just sent his previous companion home. When he was down in Philadelphia, he learned that he would be both the district leader and that he would be a trainer, so he had no time to prepare for me. When we got back, we had a late lunch and then changed into clothes that we can do service in and went over to Joel's house. After the service project, we changed clothes to do some teaching.

Thursday

This was my first full day out in the mission field. It just so happened that it was the day we had a district meeting. I think that Elder Thomas, my companion, did a good job with teaching what he prepared even though he didn't have much time to do so. We met with the sister missionaries who are also serving in the Reading 1st Ward trying to decide what to do with an upcoming fireside. We didn't get much time to teach today because as a new missionary, I get an extra hour of companion study.

Friday

We were out most of the day. We tried to contact everyone we had as a referral for, but we only ended up with three contacts, I think. For dinner, we were at the Kochen’s, and they are a really nice couple. After we finished dinner and shared a short gospel message, we went out to Fleetwood, to try to find a referral we had. She ended up not being home because she was off to college, but we did get her bother and got an appointment to go back and share the gospel with him.

Saturday

I had my first coordination meeting. For the life of me, I can't remember the ward mission leader's name. We helped Sister Beers by picking up after a yard sale she had. After that we went to David's house and read scriptures with him. He thinks he has been baptized, but no one can find his records so we might just have to re-baptize him. That night, we had the adult session of stake conference. The main message was about family history work. One thing I wish I can just do whenever I want is family history work.

Sunday

Instead of going to a chapel for stake conference, we had it at a nearby high school auditorium and is was pretty full, nothing like what it is back home. We had a member of the seventy there. One thing I learned is that he is the only member of the church in his family. We had lunch at a member's house, and then went to someone's farewell party. We tried to connecting with someone who stopped investigating the church and also a part member family, but were unable to do anything.

Week 1--The MTC

I cannot believe I have been in the MTC for a week now. A lot of things happened and I don't know where to start.

Wednesday—My First Day

Wednesday was really busy. I was brought to an area trying to get everything done during check in. You cannot believe this, but no one knew how to say my name . I have 5 elders and 3 sisters in my district including me. My companions are Elder Weisler and Elder Clark. After a short class, all the new missionaries had a meeting with the MTC presidency. They went over some of the rules and gave some advice. After dinner, we met the zone leaders and the sister training leader. We have two other districts in our zone.

Thursday

The first real day at the MTC. We heard that the best time to shower is early in the morning and to try to beat everyone. The other elders and I woke up really early. Turns out, we didn't need to so. That was fun. The elders also decided to run to and from every gym time we have. After dinner, my district met with the branch presidency. The first counselor knew how to say my last name because he knows a David Bjerregaard in American Fork. I was called to be one of the sacrament coordinators so I have to make sure that everything that is needed for the sacrament is set up.

Saturday

We attempted to teach Segon but we ended up just throwing words and terms to him that I don't think he truly understood. We didn't get too far but with every failure we learned what we should be learning.

Sunday

We had fast Sunday here. We had a mission conference where every member of the MTC presidency and their wives talked to us. I don't remember everything. After the conference, we had a district meeting where we talked about what was covered in conference. After that, we went on a temple walk where we walked around the temple. I was able to get some pictures of everyone in my zone.

Monday

Our zone got smaller because the people in my zone who went to Spokane, WA left early in the morning. We started to teach the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) investigator today. We had the same problem we had with Segon. We tried to teach everything in the lesson instead of teaching what the investigator needed and it didn't go over very well. Through the failure, we learned how to better teach.


Tuesday

My district is the only one remaining because of the people who were left, another district left for Riverside, CA. Right now we are only a one district zone until the new people arrive. My whole zone/district is looking forward to the new people so we can meet them and see if we can befriend any with only a week to do it.

Today we taught Segon again. This time, we taught to his needs. We learned why his son is important him so we taught the plan of salvation. We really felt the spirit and we had him commit to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to see if it is true. We also taught Lawannia (the TRC) the plan of salvation and she received it better then the lesson on Monday.

We went over to BYU to listen to their Tuesday devotional. It was a nice experience and something that almost never happens.



It is really hard to remember everything and I can see why Elder Tyler Jones had a hard time. I have been writing everything down but I don't have my journal with me so I am trying to do everything by memory.

I leave to go to Philadelphia early on November 11, 2014. We are going to get into Philadelphia around 3:30 pm local time. Most likely I will not be able to send any other emails until my first P-Day in the field.


Elder Bjerregaard

The district plus a few

The District

Philly here we come.

Day 1--First Letter

Today seemed to be a long day. This is the first time, about 9:50, to be able to “be by myself.” My zone leader recommended to write a letter home during my first night.

I’m in a three-way companionship with Elder Clark and Elder Weisler. I’m also rooming with Elder Froc and Elder Roberts. We have three sisters in our district. We are all going to Philadelphia.

Didn’t think I would be missing you guys already. Hope you had a safe drive back.

Love,

Elder Bjerregaard

Snail mail written on October 29, 2014

Arrived at the MTC

We have just arrived at the MTC. Michael is set and ready to go and serve the Lord.

Good bye Michael we will see you in two years!