Hello Family,
This week was super good. In this area we have basically "white washed" it. Meaning that we have started from scratch and are building things in our own way. Elder Hill had only been here for six weeks before I got here and they had the task of finding and moving into an apartment. The missionaries before I had got here had been living in a member's home and the members were leaving for the holidays and the rules say that missionaries shouldn't be in members' homes that aren't going to be around for long amounts of time so we moved into an apartment.
Our apartment is really nice, we have a little gas fireplace and a nice kitchen and good looking furniture. It hasn't had the long-lived-in-cluttered-to-the
W have a car! Yah! This is good because we have a lot of members to visit and a lot of people to meet and a big area to cover. I am happy to be warm during this cold season.
and focused.
This week we met with the bishop of the ward who has caught the missionary bug that's been spreading throughout the Omaha Stake. I have never seen a bishop more excited about missionary work on my mission. We have a great Elders Quorum and a great Relief Society. Every day it seems we make more friends and greater connections with these wonderful people. We are just getting ingrained into the ward and working really hard and trying every day to be more diligent and obedient. With this close connection with the members we get to share good experiences and faith promoting stories and teach about principals and doctrines and share our limited knowledge of Preach My Gospel.
We still have our challenges and I am glad and happy to have challenges because where would the miracles come from if we didn't have opposition?
Phew I am glad its preparation day though. I like our new preparation day schedule. We work real hard during the week and put all of our focus on Sunday, then crash on Monday! It's good. I have been seeing the effects in our area. It's really hard work, but each day we are seeing miracles and having prayers answered.
For instance, last Friday we showed up to an appointment we had made with a young man we taught while he was sitting in his car the day before. He wasn't at the appointment so we used our back-up plans and found another guy who wanted to hear more, but on a different day. So we tract his street and found this guy who was outside working on taking down Christmas lights and said to us, "It's really strange that you guys would show up today. Because my brother just passed away yesterday." He was just barely holding back the torrent of emotions going through him. He said," I'm really sad about it too because I don't know if he has accepted Jesus."
We told him a little bit about the spirit world, and told him that that was why we were here. We were there to tell him about the Plan of Salvation. Immediately as I brought up the spirit world I felt a powerful movement in the spirit. It burned brightly in us and in him. I knew at that moment that his brother was there to help us and him out. His brother was being taught by missionaries and wanted his brother to know more about it.
This man has talked to a lot of missionaries and probably bashed with us a lot before. But his heart was soft and broken and we didn't bash but discussed and testified of the truth and how all of the doctrines of the church fit with ancient scripture.
All of us grew in a greater sense of understanding and left feeling uplifted. I know that we were led to him. I know that we have angels watching over us who are truly ministering to these people here in the Millard ward. I know they are preparing all of God's children. All of His children who will be saved will be saved. The only reason for no miracles on the earth or in a ward or in a family or in an individuals life is because of a lack of Faith. (Moroni 7)
God is calling His children home. He is doing it through the faithful. Let us all rise to a new sense of commitment this week in proclaiming this gospel to the ends of the earth. We are surrounded by people. All are children of God. All have the Light of Christ. All are eligible for our invitations.
There was a paper put out by the stake that we are circulation throughout the ward. It has a bunch of good tasty doctrine that builds our faith to find people to teach. They use a story that I wish to share:
"Imagine that you invite a friend over for breakfast. You have a great meal spread out and you place a great glass jug of cool orange juice. Your friend notices it but doesn't ask for any. Their glass remains empty. You go about talking and eating and finally towards the end of the meal they ask you for some orange juice. you stammer a quick apology excusing yourself because you were not sure if they wanted any juice or not so you didn't offer any."
Many times we are like that host with our peers. How do we know unless we ask them?
As I have been meeting people here in the ward, I notice how ready people are to get connected. They are looking for someone to connect with them. We can be that link. We can be their source for love, truth, and light, because if we have an eye single to the glory of God we will be full of light and will not be able to contain it and it will spill out into the world.
So the work goes on. We grow and go.
I love this work with all my heart. We are taking steps closer toward the top every week. We are rallying the members, we are pushing back the darkness, we are seeking out the Faithful.
Thanks for you Love, and Prayers. I feel them carry me through. I love all of you. It is a pure and eternal love. We will be together for for ever!
Love,
Elder Bernards
