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