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
Monday, July 18, 2016
weeks 86-89
Week 89
Has It really been eighty-nine weeks? Where has the time gone? It is strange to be so close to the end of my mission, and I definitely have mixed feelings about it. I am excited to be able to go home soon, but I also don't want to leave. I am not going to miss the heat we have been having the past couple of weeks. If I learned only one thing from my mission, humidity makes whatever the temperature is feel like it hotter then it is.
The Kutztown Ward just had a missionary finish his mission this past week, and sent off another Wednesday. I can totally see how people who are not used to the idea of LDS missions be a little confused about them. It takes a special person who would be willing to put everything on hold for eighteen or twenty-four months. He/She will go to go to a place where he/she probably doesn’t know much about with the purpose of teaching people about Jesus Christ, how His church was restored to the Earth, and that prophets still speak to God on the behalf of the whole Earth.
With any hope, Elder Thielen and I will be able to go to the temple in the coming weeks with a recent convert. We are not sure if we can because we are close to the limited travel time to be able to go. I hope I will be able to go because it been over twenty months since the last time I was able to go to a temple.
One way Elder Thielen and I started to try to get the work moving faster is to have families make a family mission plan. The idea is that the family would come up with people they know with whom they want to share the gospel. Then they would plan ways how they can help them and do something for them to help them increase their faith in Christ.
Elder Bjerregaard
It was a hard week for us teaching wise. We don't have many investigators right now so we spend most of our day going door to door. It is hard work and we don't see much fruit from doing it, but we don't have much else we can do right now. We were also out of our area for two and a half days this week helping the zone leaders because they overscheduled themselves. That hurt our area this week.
Missionary work is definitely hard work. I personally think it is a miracle that I have the energy everyday to get out of bed. One nice thing about missionary work in the middle of summer is that the sun goes up before we wake up, and then it doesn't get dark before it is time for us to go in for the night. The days do get long and hard, but in the end I know I will be able to look back and know that it was worth all the effort I put into being a missionary.
Elder Bjerregaard
It was a fun week. I meet my new mission president on Wednesday. He and his wife brought three of their kids along. They have three older kids that are out on their own. I really like them already and I am looking forward to being able to get to know them better over the course of the next four months.
We have been having a hard time finding investigators lately, but we are definitely working hard to find some more. From what I have seen we also have a lot of missionary minded members so we can be looking forward to some referrals.
The Philadelphia temple is also finished. It is real exciting to know that all they have to do now is finish the preparations for the open house and then the people will be able to see what it like inside a Mormon temple. I know that a lot of people will become interested in the church because of it, and they will start seeking the truth.
Elder Bjerregaard
President Anderson's term as the mission president over the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission is over and President Randall is now my mission president. We are going to have a zone conference this coming Wednesday so I will be able to meet him and his wife then. It is going to be interesting to have new mission president, and I am excited to see how this will be.
We had an interesting encounter this past week. We were out tracting and we came across this guy who did not want us there at all. He accused us of trespassing and demanded us to leave or he will call the cops. We left. When we were at his neighbor's door, he left, but made it clear that if we go back and knock on his door he will call the cops. I thought the whole thing was funny but it is sad how some people are so rude to complete strangers. I hope he will soften his heart at some point and be willing to hear the gospel, until then we are not going back because he will probably call the cops on us, but I am unsure what they will do.
I had a first this week. We went to another church's service. It was Faith Church. We had a deal with an investigator that if we went to his services then he would go to ours. To be honest, I felt like I was at a Christian rock concert instead of a worship service. The service that I went to was geared toward young adults and I can see why they would like it, but I much prefer the quieter services that we have on Sunday. Another major difference is that they didn't offer the sacrament (communion) which I thought was strange. I am definitely going to put it up on my cultural experiences board, but I think I will stick to what I feel is the proper way to worship.
Elder Bjerregaard
Has It really been eighty-nine weeks? Where has the time gone? It is strange to be so close to the end of my mission, and I definitely have mixed feelings about it. I am excited to be able to go home soon, but I also don't want to leave. I am not going to miss the heat we have been having the past couple of weeks. If I learned only one thing from my mission, humidity makes whatever the temperature is feel like it hotter then it is.
The Kutztown Ward just had a missionary finish his mission this past week, and sent off another Wednesday. I can totally see how people who are not used to the idea of LDS missions be a little confused about them. It takes a special person who would be willing to put everything on hold for eighteen or twenty-four months. He/She will go to go to a place where he/she probably doesn’t know much about with the purpose of teaching people about Jesus Christ, how His church was restored to the Earth, and that prophets still speak to God on the behalf of the whole Earth.
With any hope, Elder Thielen and I will be able to go to the temple in the coming weeks with a recent convert. We are not sure if we can because we are close to the limited travel time to be able to go. I hope I will be able to go because it been over twenty months since the last time I was able to go to a temple.
One way Elder Thielen and I started to try to get the work moving faster is to have families make a family mission plan. The idea is that the family would come up with people they know with whom they want to share the gospel. Then they would plan ways how they can help them and do something for them to help them increase their faith in Christ.
Elder Bjerregaard
Week 88
I had my first interview with President Randall this past week. He is a very kind man and is doing his best to learn about all the missionaries in the mission. From what I heard, he is going to try to get to every missionary within two weeks. It is amazing how quickly he is learning. I do pray that he will be able to fulfill his calling as a mission president as best has he can.It was a hard week for us teaching wise. We don't have many investigators right now so we spend most of our day going door to door. It is hard work and we don't see much fruit from doing it, but we don't have much else we can do right now. We were also out of our area for two and a half days this week helping the zone leaders because they overscheduled themselves. That hurt our area this week.
Missionary work is definitely hard work. I personally think it is a miracle that I have the energy everyday to get out of bed. One nice thing about missionary work in the middle of summer is that the sun goes up before we wake up, and then it doesn't get dark before it is time for us to go in for the night. The days do get long and hard, but in the end I know I will be able to look back and know that it was worth all the effort I put into being a missionary.
Elder Bjerregaard
Week 87
Happy Fourth of July. What a wonderful day to remember the birth of the country whose religious freedom allowed the restoration to happen. Also is a wonderful time to remember all those who fought to retain this freedom. For all those who are or who did serve in this country's freedom we all enjoy, I thank you.It was a fun week. I meet my new mission president on Wednesday. He and his wife brought three of their kids along. They have three older kids that are out on their own. I really like them already and I am looking forward to being able to get to know them better over the course of the next four months.
We have been having a hard time finding investigators lately, but we are definitely working hard to find some more. From what I have seen we also have a lot of missionary minded members so we can be looking forward to some referrals.
The Philadelphia temple is also finished. It is real exciting to know that all they have to do now is finish the preparations for the open house and then the people will be able to see what it like inside a Mormon temple. I know that a lot of people will become interested in the church because of it, and they will start seeking the truth.
Elder Bjerregaard
Week 86
I got transferred to Kutztown, PA and I have Elder Thielen as my companion right now. This is probably going to be the closest to my first area as I will be able to get on my mission. My district leader is in the companionship that is over my old area so I might be able to go back there for exchanges.President Anderson's term as the mission president over the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission is over and President Randall is now my mission president. We are going to have a zone conference this coming Wednesday so I will be able to meet him and his wife then. It is going to be interesting to have new mission president, and I am excited to see how this will be.
We had an interesting encounter this past week. We were out tracting and we came across this guy who did not want us there at all. He accused us of trespassing and demanded us to leave or he will call the cops. We left. When we were at his neighbor's door, he left, but made it clear that if we go back and knock on his door he will call the cops. I thought the whole thing was funny but it is sad how some people are so rude to complete strangers. I hope he will soften his heart at some point and be willing to hear the gospel, until then we are not going back because he will probably call the cops on us, but I am unsure what they will do.
I had a first this week. We went to another church's service. It was Faith Church. We had a deal with an investigator that if we went to his services then he would go to ours. To be honest, I felt like I was at a Christian rock concert instead of a worship service. The service that I went to was geared toward young adults and I can see why they would like it, but I much prefer the quieter services that we have on Sunday. Another major difference is that they didn't offer the sacrament (communion) which I thought was strange. I am definitely going to put it up on my cultural experiences board, but I think I will stick to what I feel is the proper way to worship.
Elder Bjerregaard
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