Week 34

We had an awesome zone conference with Elder Kacher of the Seventy this past Tuesday. It was awesome having a general authority there. We largely talked about how we can work with the ward council more effectively. One thing that he suggested to do is to meet with the members of the ward council individually and ask what we can do to help them in their respective organizations.

For the past couple of days, I have been studying about faith. I have not gotten very far so as of yet, but knowledge is added line upon line, and precept upon precept. A little here and a little there. One thing I have learned is that faith is both a verb and a noun. Some people think of faith as only the noun. James taught that "faith without works is dead, being alone" (James 2:17). In other words, we need to put faith into action. We need to have and use faith in our everyday life if we want to draw closer to the Savior.

Mom here: I receive a picture and a video from a returned missionary’s mother (Elder Tyler from the PPM). The video is a little difficult to understand due to background noise. He mentioned that he is doing well, has food, and not to worry about him. It was a pleasant surprise to receive this video.


Elder Bjerregaard
#BecauseHeLives

Week 33

President Anderson called two elders as "training elders," and their main responsibility is to help train the younger missionaries on how to be the best missionaries they can be. They are to pass down the wisdom they learned from doing the work for almost two years. President Anderson wanted them to do a double in exchange with us last Monday, and they helped us find a few people who might be interested in learning more about the gospel.

I used to make fun of people when they said it is hot when it is over ninety, but now I understand that it is no joke because of the humidity. To help save on miles (we can only drive so far a month), we often park our car at a central location and then walk for at least a mile before we return. By that time we are normally sweaty and ready to spend time with A/C to cool down some before we go out and do some more walking. I am even starting to look forward to the winter when it is not as humid.

Elder Bjerregaard
#BecauseHeLives

Week 32

Transfers took place Wednesday and my new companion is Elder Foster. He is only six weeks ahead of me in his mission. He is from Tri-City, Washington. This is his fourth area, so he has been spending on average only three months in each area. Elder Allred got transferred to Bay View so he is still in my zone.

We had 17 new missionaries this time around (or something like that, I can't remember the exact number). We are going to receive 33 new missionaries at the end of July. I heard that about half of the current missionaries in the PPM (Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission) have only been out for six months or less.

Things are slowly moving along in Wilmington. We are in finding a mode right now because our teaching pool is pretty low. We are trying to build that back up. We are trying a little bit of everything to find people who want to hear about the restored gospel.

I miss my dry heat!

Elder Bjerregaard

Week 31

This is the last week of the transfer, and Elder Allred is leaving. It was surprising to find out because he has only been here for three months, and the average is six. It is sad for him to leave because we got along really well, and we are going to miss each other. We thought for sure that we would have at least another one transfer together if not two.

We had a great lesson last week with Clay. We focused on faith and could really feel the spirit. He still doesn't feel like he is ready to be baptized, but he is getting closer to feeling ready and even gave the closing payer.

The District

Elder Bjerregaard and Elder Allred saw this picture at a church in Wilmington and had a good laugh.

Elder Bjerregaard

Week 30

Stake conference was this week and we got a new stake presidency. In one of the talks on Saturday, the speaker said that what we do on the Sabbath day should reflect what kind of sign that we want to send to Heavenly Father and The Lord.

I went on two exchanges this week. The first one was the normal district leader exchange which was fun. For some reason, the mission president wanted the district leaders at mission leadership council, so I was with Elder Jones, the companion for the other district leader in the zone.

The mission has been really been pushing for us to be more careful with our cars as of late. They already had to pull ten cars for one reason or the other. For most areas that have a car, the amount they can drive has been reduced. With the reduced driving though, the mission has a whole has been more successful at finding the honest seekers of the truth.

This is the last week for the transfer, but it has not felt like five weeks has already passed. For that matter it doesn’t seem like I have been out seven months. It stills feels like only a couple days ago that I was dropped off at the MTC to learn how to effectively teach the gospel. At the same time it seems like forever ago because of all the new experiences I have had. Anyway by this time next week, I will know if I will stay in Wilmington or if I am going to get transferred.

Elder Bjerregaard
#BecauseHeLives