Twenty-two months ago, I started my mission. I left behind friends and family to dedicate twenty-four months to preaching and sharing the gospel to the people who live in and around Philadelphia. I can't believe that it has been that long, and I only have two months left. Now that I can see the finish line, I need to push even harder to finish strong.
We are really in a finding mode right now. We do not have many people to teach right now, so we have to go door to door and talk to people on the street. Kutztown University just started their fall semester, so there are a lot of people who we can talk to now around Kutztown. We are hoping that we will be able to find people who really want to know about the Church.
Jing and Yao are wonderful. We still are helping Jing understand the basics about praying. We will probably be able to move forward to teach more about the gospel and help his testimony about the other parts of the gospel to grow as well. They came to church yesterday and as far as I am able to tell, they love it. We are really hopeful about them. Please pray for them.
Elder Bjerregaard
Monday, August 29, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
week 94
We had another wonderful lesson with Jing and Yao this past week. We were planning on teaching them about prayer and scripture study, but it turned into a question and answer with them about what we already taught, mostly about the plan of salvation. Yao has been able to feel the Spirit as she prays and recognizes that she feels good as she prays. Jing is having more trouble because he feels weird praying to what he doesn't know exists. We took the high priest group leader with us and he was able to really connect with them. They even came to church yesterday, the first time since we started teaching them.
I am starting to wonder if the heat will ever go away. We have some relief today, but it is supposed to get to the high eighty's again and the humidity will also return. It will just be my luck that it will stay like this until I get home and then it will be nice here, but hot there.
Elder Bjerregaard
I am starting to wonder if the heat will ever go away. We have some relief today, but it is supposed to get to the high eighty's again and the humidity will also return. It will just be my luck that it will stay like this until I get home and then it will be nice here, but hot there.
Elder Bjerregaard
Monday, August 15, 2016
week 93
So transfers happened last week and my new companion is Elder Roberts. Elder Roberts and I were in the same MTC district. So, like me, he has been out for about twenty one and a half months. Probably he will finish his mission here in Kutztown. He was serving in Scranton, PA. before being transferred here. If anyone is wondering, he is from Paris, Idaho.
The Philadelphia Temple public open house started last Wednesday. Tours of the temple will be given for about a month before they close the temple to the pubic so they can clean it before they have the dedication. After the dedication, the temple will only be used for religious purposes. It is a once in a life time opportunity to be a missionary in a mission that has a temple open house going on while he or she is still serving a mission.
We had another lesson with Jing and Yao and it went pretty well. It seems like Yao is more accepting of the gospel then Jing. Jing is having a problem accepting that there is a God, or if there is a God why he needs one. I have a good feeling about this couple though. I believe that as long as they keep the commitments they make, they will be able to know for themselves that Jesus the Christ is Heavenly Father's Son and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
There has been a heat wave for the past week or so. I am definitely looking forward to when it finally passes, but the last time I knew there was no end in sight. At some point it will cool down, and I am definitely looking forward to when it does cool down.
Elder Bjerregaard
The Philadelphia Temple public open house started last Wednesday. Tours of the temple will be given for about a month before they close the temple to the pubic so they can clean it before they have the dedication. After the dedication, the temple will only be used for religious purposes. It is a once in a life time opportunity to be a missionary in a mission that has a temple open house going on while he or she is still serving a mission.
We had another lesson with Jing and Yao and it went pretty well. It seems like Yao is more accepting of the gospel then Jing. Jing is having a problem accepting that there is a God, or if there is a God why he needs one. I have a good feeling about this couple though. I believe that as long as they keep the commitments they make, they will be able to know for themselves that Jesus the Christ is Heavenly Father's Son and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
There has been a heat wave for the past week or so. I am definitely looking forward to when it finally passes, but the last time I knew there was no end in sight. At some point it will cool down, and I am definitely looking forward to when it does cool down.
Elder Bjerregaard
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
week 92
Transfers are here, and I am going to stay in Kutztown for the next six weeks. Elder Thielen on the other hand is getting transferred. We think he is going to get transferred south because my new companion is going to be dropped off tomorrow. Elder Thielen is going to ride down with Elder Fisher who is serving north of us.
I got pink eye this week, so that was really fun dealing with that. The problem was that I woke up with a really red eye Monday morning, and the redness didn't go away. I called the mission nurse the following morning, and she sent me to urgent care. I was told I had pink eye and was contagious for forty-eight hours, so we were unable to work for two days.
We had a really good lesson with Yao and her husband Jing. They don't have much of a religious background, but they are interested in knowing if there is a God. It is going to be interesting teaching them because I have never taught anyone without a Christian background. They were unable to come to church this Sunday, but we are hoping that they will be able to come this coming Sunday.
We also got to set up Facebook this week, and then we quickly lost it because there were missionaries who misused it. So, everyone has go through the training again and then wait until the zone leaders give us permission to use it again. It is going to be a process before everyone is using Facebook effectively and correctly. Until then, it seems like it will be a bumpy ride trying to use Facebook.
Elder Bjerregaard
I got pink eye this week, so that was really fun dealing with that. The problem was that I woke up with a really red eye Monday morning, and the redness didn't go away. I called the mission nurse the following morning, and she sent me to urgent care. I was told I had pink eye and was contagious for forty-eight hours, so we were unable to work for two days.
We had a really good lesson with Yao and her husband Jing. They don't have much of a religious background, but they are interested in knowing if there is a God. It is going to be interesting teaching them because I have never taught anyone without a Christian background. They were unable to come to church this Sunday, but we are hoping that they will be able to come this coming Sunday.
We also got to set up Facebook this week, and then we quickly lost it because there were missionaries who misused it. So, everyone has go through the training again and then wait until the zone leaders give us permission to use it again. It is going to be a process before everyone is using Facebook effectively and correctly. Until then, it seems like it will be a bumpy ride trying to use Facebook.
Elder Bjerregaard
Monday, August 1, 2016
week 91
I can't remember if I already informed you about this, but this transfer is a seven week transfer so transfers are not this week, but next week. It is strange to think that I have only two transfers left after this one. A lot of missionaries that I have gotten to know at the start of my mission are now home or will be going home next week or in the middle of September. Time definitely flies by when you are in the service of God.
The big news from this last week is that we going to be allowed to start using Facebook again after this coming Thursday. Back in February of last year, the Church decided to temporarily stop using Facebook in many missions. Missionaries were not properly trained to use Facebook for missionary purposes. The Church wanted to wait until they learned about the best way to use it for missionary purposes, and then train missionaries how to use it effectively and correctly. How it works out, most of the missionaries that used Facebook from last time are already home so almost no one in this mission has used Facebook on this mission so it will be a complete fresh start using it here.
We also were extremely blessed this last week with two referrals. One of them referred herself and already knows a little about the church from her own research. We have not had an opportunity to teach her, but we are planning on teaching her this coming week. It seems like she is really interested in learning more about the gospel.
Another referral we got last week was someone who was already investigating the church in New York, but moved to Pennsylvania last week. She has been to church a couple of times when she lived in New York, and we are excited to meet her this coming week as well.
I found out this week that the number of VIP tours for the Philadelphia Temple is greater than what most temples have before they are dedicated. Most temples only have two or three days of VIP tours, but the Philadelphia Temple is having little over two weeks of VIP tours. I don't know who all are going, but from what I have heard, politicians and officers from the Pentagon are on the list of people that have been invited to come and see the temple as VIPs.
Elder Bjerregaard
The big news from this last week is that we going to be allowed to start using Facebook again after this coming Thursday. Back in February of last year, the Church decided to temporarily stop using Facebook in many missions. Missionaries were not properly trained to use Facebook for missionary purposes. The Church wanted to wait until they learned about the best way to use it for missionary purposes, and then train missionaries how to use it effectively and correctly. How it works out, most of the missionaries that used Facebook from last time are already home so almost no one in this mission has used Facebook on this mission so it will be a complete fresh start using it here.
We also were extremely blessed this last week with two referrals. One of them referred herself and already knows a little about the church from her own research. We have not had an opportunity to teach her, but we are planning on teaching her this coming week. It seems like she is really interested in learning more about the gospel.
Another referral we got last week was someone who was already investigating the church in New York, but moved to Pennsylvania last week. She has been to church a couple of times when she lived in New York, and we are excited to meet her this coming week as well.
I found out this week that the number of VIP tours for the Philadelphia Temple is greater than what most temples have before they are dedicated. Most temples only have two or three days of VIP tours, but the Philadelphia Temple is having little over two weeks of VIP tours. I don't know who all are going, but from what I have heard, politicians and officers from the Pentagon are on the list of people that have been invited to come and see the temple as VIPs.
Elder Bjerregaard
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week 90
The biggest news this week is that I was able to tour the recently completed Philadelphia Pennsylvania temple. There were special open house tours for the missionaries that President Randall, my mission president, wanted everyone to attend. It is a very beautiful building and the people who built it and designed it did a really awesome job. It defiantly is a building built to the highest level of craftsmanship that mankind can do. There is a special spirit that is already in the temple, and it will only increase as we get closer to the dedication. With the dedication, we can start fulfilling the purpose for which the temple was built. As missionaries, we will be able to bring investigators to the public open house during August and September.
I love being a missionary during this special time in the mission. It is definitely a once in a life time opportunity for the current missionaries here because never again will we have the opportunity to invite people to tour His house as His representatives. Great miracles will happen because of this temple. People will search for the truth more sincerely, families will come together on both sides of the veil, and people will come to know who they are and where they fit in God's family. Because of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of who we are, our relationship with God, and the priesthood having been restored, we can complete the ordinances that we need to be able return to live with Heavenly Father.
Elder Bjerregaard
I love being a missionary during this special time in the mission. It is definitely a once in a life time opportunity for the current missionaries here because never again will we have the opportunity to invite people to tour His house as His representatives. Great miracles will happen because of this temple. People will search for the truth more sincerely, families will come together on both sides of the veil, and people will come to know who they are and where they fit in God's family. Because of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of who we are, our relationship with God, and the priesthood having been restored, we can complete the ordinances that we need to be able return to live with Heavenly Father.
Elder Bjerregaard
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