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.