week 82

It seems like we keep on going from one extreme to another weather wise. It was super bright and sunny a couple of days ago, and now we are overcast and rainy. I wonder if I have this to look forward to for the rest of the spring and then into summer.

I can't believe that it is almost the end of May. The year seems like it just marching on at a quick rate. It is amazing on how fast that it going some times. It seems like it was just yesterday that I got transferred here back in February and now we are almost at the end of May. I wonder if the last five months of my mission will go as quickly has these first five months of the year have gone by.

We have dropped a lot of people in our teaching pool lately. A lot of them we almost never meet with or they almost never keep their appointments. It is hard to watch the teaching pool shrink, but it is better for it to be small and we have solid and committed people that to have a lot of people that only hold their appointments a third of the time. It is also easier to have a smaller teaching pool because it becomes easier to plan because we don't have as as many people we need to think about, but we are always trying to find out more.

I am really looking forward to the Philadelphia temple dedication. I missed the Phoenix dedication because I left for my mission two and a half weeks before the dedications, but I will still be on my mission for another six or so weeks after this dedication. It definitely going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a temple dedicated in a middle of a city like Philadelphia.

Elder Bjerregaard
#Hallelujah

Week 81

It been another week here in the PPM, and my new companion and I have gotten along great. Well we should because we were companions a year ago in Wilmington, Delaware. That is right, my companion is the one, thee only Elder Allred. We thought the assistants were joking when they first told us that we were companions. We get to spend another five weeks together. We have to wait to see if we are going to stay together the rest of his mission or not.

One of the hardest parts of being a missionary is when lessons don't hold. Quickly counting possible lessons from last week, we should have had twenty or so lessons, but only three of them held. I feel like that is one part that makes missions hard, setting up lessons that end up not holding.

I am seriously wondering if it will ever stop raining. It has been cloudy and raining for about a month now. I am told that this is pretty abnormal for here. I feel like it has rained more here in the past month than it does at home for a whole year. I am hoping it is like this during the hot months of summer so I will not die from the heat. One thing that I have going for me is that I am from Arizona, so I am used to high temperatures. At times it seems like it is worse here because of the humidity. I don't like to admit it when we are outside. I believe that when you think it is hot, it will just seem hotter.

Elder Bjerregaard
#Hallelujah

Elder Bjerregaard with is new "old" companion.

Week 80

It is the end of another transfer here in the mission. The big change for me with this one is that the sisters that started their missions at the same time as me will be going home tomorrow (May 17). From now on until I go home, I will be out longer than the sisters now going home. It is just a sign that my mission is getting close to the end, but I still have four more transfers and I am planning on working hard until my stake president tells me that I am released, and that I am no longer a full-time missionary. The second change for this coming transfer is that Elder Crowther and is getting transferred and I am going to stay in Cambridge, so I will be getting another companion to serve with for at least the next five weeks.

Another change that is happening in the mission is President Anderson is going to set up another zone. A zone is larger than a district and the largest division within a mission. It is going to be north of Reading. At the very least it’s going to include Potstown, Hazelton, and Lehighton.

The weather finally broke this week, and we have sunshine again. It seems like everyday for the past three weeks it was totally overcast. For a while I was beginning to believe that I was really called to the Washington Seattle Mission instead of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission. I feel like we got more rain during those three weeks that I would normally get in a year back in Wickenburg. Personally I hope that the weather is going to stay like this, but the way the weather has been for the past six months, I am not really sure what will happen.

Elder Bjerregaard
#Hallelujah

The District (The Sisters in the truck are going home 5/17)

Week 79

Sunday was my last time to call home while on my mission. I feel like I am on my "final" stretch now because from here it is a tight shot until October. The only major event left is General Conference in the beginning of October. I am sure that my family is not so secretly counting down the days until I get off the plane at Sky Harbor to be with them again. (Mom here ~ Yep, we are sure counting down the time. There are 169 days left!!)

From what my Grandma told me, the stake president over the Wilmington Stake will be the first temple president for the Philadelphia Temple. I served in Wilmington from April to July of last year. I remember seeing him a few times. It is interesting to see how things progress as the temple dedication gets closer. I would like to know what role I will have in the dedication, but I will probably not find out until the new mission president gets here (he begins on July 1st) and makes a decision on the matter.

For the better part of the time, it has been cloudy or raining for the past couple of weeks, and the forecast says that it might stay cloudy for this week as well. I am starting to wonder if I am in Cambridge or somewhere on the west coast of Washington (rain forest) with the weather we been having. It been nice that it has been cooler than it has been though.

I hope everyone is having a lovely time and hope you are getting ready for summer. For me personally I hope it is not going to be a hot one because I will be the one that will be out in it everyday. I cannot stay inside like “normal” people with A/C.

Elder Bjerregaard
#Hallelujah

Dover Zone

week 78

I can't believe that it is already May. The year is going by fast. In a couple months it will be summer again. I definitely believe that time is going faster every month. I like to say that someone keeps on pressing the fast forward on my perception of time.

It was a really slow week for us. Most of our lessons cancelled, which is disappointing, but what can I do? People do have their moral agency after all.

I would like to wish every mother a happy Mother's Day on Sunday. The world is a better place because of your selfless service you do in raising your kids and helping them through their life problems. Elder Holland gave an excellent talk about mothers in his October 2015 talk. It’s a good read.

Elder Bjerregaard
#Hallelujah