Week 95

December 8, 2014

 

My Dear Family and Friends,

 

How sad it is that this is my last letter? It won’t be too long since it’s late for me! We had a long day. It’s my last p-day so I had a whole lot of things to do and a people to visit. Next Monday we won’t have time for internet because we will have a meeting all day where they are basically going to teach us how to go home and jump into the world! haha.

 

So the key things that happened this week. First, Laura and Majo went to the temple and did baptisms!!! It was such a beautiful day and they loved it. They said they want to go back again and again. It was a very special moment for me and my companion, especially at this point in our mission. There’s nothing better than watching someone see and enter the temple for the first time. I’m hoping and praying that his week I'll be able to attend the sealing of the Rocha Family. It’s either this week or next week. Depends what their bishop says.

 

On Friday I had my exit interview with President Hansen. What an amazing 30 minutes that was. We talked about everything from the beginning to the end of my time here. Also, about everything after from school, a career and marriage. He’s a great guy that really was inspired with words of wisdom for me. I’m going to miss working with him here in the mission.

 

Also, quick update with our miracle family. Abel's parents are great! We got to visit them twice this week and they are progressing in the right direction. They are praying and wanting to receive answers. We asked them how they feel in the church and as they learn more and as they pray. They said there is a peaceful feeling. They also mentioned that they’ve had peace since their son has been on a mission.  My companion and I, both at the same time, pulled out Matthew 14:26 to explain how the spirit works and then Galatians (I think that how you spell it in English) 5:22-23 to explain how one feels the Spirit. They took that as an answer. They were hesitant to accept baptism but that is what they are now praying about. Abel wrote my companion and me through a member in the ward, and the letter said that he was so grateful that we answered his prayers. He said if he could just get them to listen they would eventually accept the Gospel. It was super nice of him to write us and express his gratefulness.

 

This week will be one of the hardest weeks of my life as I’ll be traveling to my old areas, saying good bye to my best friends and families, that I’ve made these two years. I love this country with all my heart. I’m so grateful to have been called to the greatest mission in the world. Bolivia will forever be embedded in my heart.

 

Well, I was thinking I was going to write ya’ll a big long testimony but I think I’ll make it small and simple.

 

I know what I’ve done for two years is true. I know this is the Lords work. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I love Jesus Christ and I am forever his debtor. I don’t deserve all that He has done for me, but I’ll take it and take full advantage of it. It took me long enough, but I can say with all my heart, mind, and strength that I am His disciple.

 

HASTA VER!!!!!

 

Elder Kyler Golden Berrett

 

PS - Thank you for your support and letters these last two years. It has meant so much to me.

 

Rick and both each wrote a final letter to him as a missionary!

I think that was probably the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time.

I must say that I shed many tears writing the letter, and then again when I emailed with him today.

 

I am totally in awe at all that he has become over the past two years! I still cannot believe that I have been given such a sweet spirit to care for in this life!  I am not worthy!

 

I cannot wait to see what his future holds!

 

Here is some of his repsonse to our letters....

 

 

Hey mom and dad, thanks for the letters!!

 

I may not have had the greatest success here, but I am glad I've been able to witness some miracles. President asked what is the most cherished thing I'll take home and I said my testimony and all he could do was smile and say thats exactly right. I haven't baptized a ton or taken families to the temple or done a whole lot, but you know what? I truly am happy and satisfied because I've given it my all, every single day! And most of all, I've had one true convert and that is me. And I can't deny the truth. Thank you so much for raising me to get to this point and be able to serve a mission. I can't wait to see you guys soon! Please send everyone my love! See you soon!

 

Love your son,

Elder Berrett

Week 94

December 1, 2014



Hello Family!!!

 

This was probably my last full normal week as a missionary. I actually didn’t realize that until this morning, but I felt good because I really gave it my all this week. I also felt good as I sat back and pondered about the past two years. I’m happy. I know I’ve done all I can! BUT...it’s still not over!! :)) This week we have a few conferences so that makes the week a little different but it’s alright! We still we have plenty of time to proselyte.

 

Tuesday we had a very cool experience! We were knocking a door and as we were waiting for someone to answer a woman with her little daughter walked by. We decided we'd talk to her and she was great! After about 2 minutes someone answered the door! So I left my comp to talk to the woman and I went and talked to the woman that answered the door. I talked to her for about 10 minutes while Elder Nicho was still talking to the other woman. I had enough time to get to know her and teach all about Joseph Smith! She was super nice and said she’d love for us to meet her husband! So I took down an appointment and we went back on Thursday and met her husband! They seem pretty interested. Anyways, at the end I asked her to pray and she did! As we finished and parted, I went back to my companion and they were finishing with a prayer! My comp said she was amazing!! But she didn’t live in our area so we passed the reference to the other elders in the ward and they ended up bringing her to church and now is one of their main investigators. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

 

In my first months here there was a young man in the ward named Abel that recently went on a mission. He always went with us to do visits. He’s the only member in his family. We ran into his mom last week and she was super nice. We went to his house and taught her and Abel’s dad. After teaching all of lesson 1, The Restoration, his dad said, "When my son tried to teach me about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon I didn’t want anything to do with it, I told him if he believed in that then fine for him, but now that you two young men have explained it to me I understand. I’m going to read the Book of Mormon and pray." He and his wife both came to church yesterday and loved it!! Everyone was soooo excited to see Abel's parents for the first time at church! Everyone came up to us and said "Elders, I’ll help all you guys want with Abel's parents." And "You guys have to get them baptized for Abel!" haha it was a little over whelming. I know that his family is being blessed, thanks to his service to the Lord as a missionary. Just like my family has been blessed...I hope haha

 

As ya'll saw in the pictures Laura and Majo got baptized. It was super special and I felt the spirit so strong with them and their family. I’m super happy to have been able to teach them the past five months. Also I can’t wait to keep in touch and see their progress over the years.

 

Well, I love you all so much. Next week will be my last email. My last Monday, I probably won’t get on the internet since I’ll be home the next day. Until next week!!

 

Love -

Elder Berrett

 

Laura and Majo's baptism! It went super well. I baptized Laura (the taller one) and and my comp baptized Majo. They gave the best testimonies at the end!

After the ordinance

After, with the whole family!

 



Week 93

November 24, 2014

 

Family!!!

 

Wow the pics look great!! I love pictures! I love Kayden's ride and girl! That’s pretty sweet! He looks happy!  Mom,I’m diggin the glasses and dad, I’m diggin my tie. Seems like everyone is well!

 

This week was super fast! Just like all the weeks. I’m really just trying to work my tail off in these last days as one of the Lord's assigned servants. I’ve been going to the gym early in the morning with my comp and other Elders the past week and a half! I love it. I will admit, I did go through a fat stage here in the mish but about 6 months ago when I got to this area I lost it all. It’s true when they say that the missionaries here go up and down with their weight. I recently saw a bunch of members from my first area and they all say that I’m way skinnier haha.   I’m happy though I just don’t want to come home fat haha. We are working super hard. They are going to close our area since my comp and I are both dying this transfer. Just the missionaries that are here in the ward are going to take over. So little by little we are showing them the area and introducing them to our investigators, less actives, and recent converts.

 

So about Laura and Maria Jose! Laura come to English class on Wednesday and told us, "I’ve prayed harder than ever and I know I want to get baptized on Saturday with my Sister." We were like what!?!?! YEAAAAHHHH BOY!!!!!! And then we realized she couldn’t because she lacked one church attendance. She’s been to Sacrament 12 times, and gospel principles 8, but she’s only been to 3rd hour twice and the mission rule is that they have to attend 3 times to all 3 meetings. Maria Jose has been to all of the meetings, plenty of times. So we gave them a few options as to when they want to get baptized and we all decided it would be better if they did it together. So we planned it for next Sunday at 1. Right before church so they can receive the Holy Ghost right after during Sacrament meeting.

 

Something personal I started last 2 weeks ago is reading Preach My Gospel one last time. This morning in my personal study I finished and I felt the Spirit so strong as I prayed that the Lord would bless me with diligence and strength in the final stretch. I know the Church is true and I know that this is the Lords work. I love him and trust him with my life. I love you all! Hopefully I’ll get a letter soon from yall!!

 

Love

Elder Berrett

 

PS MOM!!!! I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS DESTROYED!!!!!!! The chick-fil-a sauce was all opened and had destroyed the packaging. I was able to save the majority of the the stuff. Everything but the Peanut butter crackers and....the oreos :(  They got opened and chick fil a sauce all over them. So sad!  And I think there was a letter in there but I couldn't tell. It was just a soggy colorful paper with smeared words hahaha Thank you though!! I love you :)

Week 92

November 17, 2014

 

Hey everyone!!

 

Dang it, the weeks are flying by. I thought time might slow down here a little at the final stretch but nope, not at all. Today was amazing!! We played................BASEBALL!!!!! Someone, somehow, found a baseball field and got all the missionaries together!! It was sooo fun! It wasn’t intense or anything, but we had a blast and I got to play SS :) I’m so happy!! It’s been too long. But after throwing a few, my shoulder hurts pretty badly. Hopefully it’s just because it’s been a while.

 

Anyways, on to the important stuff!! This week was great!! Tuesday was a super looooong day of doing zone leader stuff. We had to get teaching supplies from the city, then we came back and I got to do 2 baptism interviews for two of Elder Porters investigators, which was cool. I love doing baptism interviews for people. Then we had to do our finances for the zone back in the city. It was pretty much a day of being in a taxi.

 

Wednesday was great!! We got to work all day and we had great lessons. Particularly one that stood out was with Zandra, who we baptized back in July. She introduced us to her mom!! She’s been so scared to do that for so long!! She had a great experience last week that helped my testimony. She had a huge final exam that basically decided her career. If she passes, she’s legal to open her own pharmacy, if she doesn’t pass she has to retake a series of classes that last two years. So she decided to fast! Twice!!! And she got a perfect score!! So she said the least she could do to thank God was to introduce us to her mom. She was wonderful. She didn’t come to church but we are hoping this week. Zandra is great and she has progressed so much since her baptism, she is truly converted to the Lord.

 

Thursday it rained super hard all day! My comp and I have some great pictures! We got super muddy. It was fun. We had a lesson that night with Laura and Maria José!!! They both accepted baptism for this Saturday the 22nd!! I’m super pumped for them. They said they’ve prayed and their sure that they want to do it and that they know the Lord wants them to do it. We pulled out D&C 20:37 and asked them if they are sure they want to make that covenant and they said they have no choice because they know it’s true and they need to follow Christ! This week they will have their interviews and hopefully two baptisms on Saturday!! Please pray this week for them.

 

Well sorry this is short but I got the best stories of the week! I know this is the Lords work! And this is His church. I love Him with all my heart.

 

Love

Elder Berrett

 

PS - Please don’t tell me how many days I have left. I’m not counting and neither should ya'll!! hahaha

Love you guys!!!

 

Baseball with the Zone

 

Working in the rain! :)

 



Week 91

November 10, 2014

 

Hello Family!!!

 

Wow!!! This week flew by!! I have a feeling this is going to be the fastest, but at the same time busiest transfer yet. I’m starting to get to a really exhausted point. I’m the most tired I’ve ever been in my entire life. I’m sure time is just getting to me but it’s also a satisfying feeling to come home and not have energy to do anything.

 

This week was full great moments and experiences. My motivation to work harder than ever is simply to take advantage of the little time I have so the Lord can provide me with experiences I need to grow. I know I’m not done until President Galt takes my badge off.  So I until then I will keep doing what the Lord wants, so that I can learn what he needs me to learn. When Elder Waddell of the Seventy came here that’s what he told us, “That we have been assigned here to Cochabamba, because the Lord has something for us to learn here.” I love looking for those experiences and lessons the Lord has for me and my companion.

 

On Tuesday we were in a trio all day because Elder Sazo from Guatemala was waiting for his new companion to come from the MTC. So Elder Sazo stayed with us and helped us teach. We had a great experience: We were walking and there was a man who was lifting hundreds of egg cartons all alone from his truck to his house. We stopped to help and he didn’t want help in the beginning. We insisted and after helping for about 15 minutes he said "Well Elderes, I have to admit, I’m a member." haha We were pretty surprised. His name is Samuel. We talked for a good bit and he let us meet his family. They are not members.

 

On Saturday night we went to a huge celebration that the church had for its 50th year here in Bolivia. It was a 5 stake activity. While I was there I ran into many people from my previous areas, including Andres, my first convert! I gave him a huge hug and his family as well. They are doing great! Andres is getting ready for his mission and his family is getting ready to get sealed in the temple! I’m super excited! I’m going to be allowed to attend and be there with them! I think they are going a week or two before I leave!

 

So I see you guys got my flight information! That’s crazy! Do you think you could get Kayden to fly to Miami and I can fly with him! :) That would be sick! But if not, that’s fine! Maybe y’all can change his flight so he gets there later and he can just wait for me at my gate and we can walk down together! haha I'd love that! As far as the airport goes I don’t care whose there! No big deal for me! I’d love to see whoever wants to be there family and friends and all! No me importa! The schedule looks great! I'm super excited! Will I be able to test out of Spanish?? Well I love you all so much! Hopefully you all can have a great week! Until the next!!

 

Love
Elder Berrett

 

I have to show you my letter to him. 

I am quite pleased with myself.  I only wished I had thought of it earlier. 

I typed my letter in Google Translate, a paragraph at a time. 

It made it very difficult though because I couldn't go back and see what I had told him! lol

As you can see, I gave him his schedule for BYU.

If you can read Spanish, let me know how I did! :)

Until next week!!

 

Oh, in case you were wondering....

Only 35 more days until he comes home!!!

 

Bueno Elder mañana Berrett ! Espero que esta carta te encuentre feliz y bien !

		Monday	Wednesday	Friday
American Heritage Lab	9:00
Intro to Archaeology	10:00
American Heritage	11:00
	12:00
Book of Mormon	1:00
Accounting	2:00
	3:00
3rd Yr Spanish	4:00

Su día no se inicia tan pronto como le gustaría , pero que le dará pleny de hora de levantarse y estudiar o hacer ejercicio o de vez en cuando dormir! Creo que una vez que llegue de nuevo en la ranura de las cosas que realmente va a disfrutar de este horario. Usted tiene un descanso para el almuerzo y luego un pequeño descanso antes de su clase de español que usted será capaz de utilizar como un tiempo de estudio . ( O tal vez coqueteo ) :)

Por lo tanto, no estoy seguro de si ha recibido la información de su vuelo aún o no , pero tenemos !! Se sale de Santa Cruz el 16 de diciembre a las 11:35 am y volar a Miami , FL a las 5:25 hs. A continuación, volar a cabo a las 8:00 pm y llega a Atlanta a las 10:10 hs. Estoy tan emocionada !!! Apenas puedo contenerme ! Kayden vuela en ese mismo día a las 1:00 . Estamos pensando que podría cambiar su vuelo a un poco más tarde esa noche, así que no tenemos que ir al aeropuerto dos veces. Debido a que usted está consiguiendo en tan tarde , usted no conseguirá apartar hasta las 10:00 am de la mañana siguiente . No es gran cosa, pero sólo quiero que sepas.

Así que todo está bien con nosotros en casa . Sólo estamos preparando para los días de fiesta y tratando de conseguir la aplicación de Kayden a LDS Business College terminó . Él ha decidido que va a ir allí para un poco y con el tiempo que le gustaría transferir a la Universidad Brigham Young o UVU . Tal vez el próximo verano se puede tomar algunas clases en la Universidad Brigham Young y se le permitirá que se quede encendido. Él se está poniendo muy emocionado tenerte en casa . Él es amoroso pero Utah es el hogar de enfermos y creo que va a ser muy agradable tenerte cerca. Creo que va a ser muy agradable tenerte en casa y contar con usted como un ejemplo para él . Él no está haciendo nada que no debería estar haciendo . Pero en realidad no ha cumplido con cualquier amigo fuera del lado de trabajo . Los singles de su barrio o son mayores o simplemente a punto de graduarse. Porque él no va en una misión y no en la escuela , que no está cumpliendo con los amigos que son de su edad . Por lo que será agradable para que usted pueda estar en casa y para que él sea capaz de pasar el rato con usted y conocer gente a través de ti.

El resto de nosotros estamos todos a punto de la misma . Dos semanas más hasta Acción de Gracias . Ya sabes lo que siento por una semana fuera de la escuela ! :) Por supuesto , el equipo de fútbol terminó por primera vez en la región . Comenzamos playoffs región este viernes con el primer juego que se está reproduciendo en casa. No estoy seguro de que todavía jugamos . El cuarto lugar equipos tuvieron un triple empate y jugarán el juego de esta noche 2 mini juegos para determinar el equipo de cuarto lugar .

Así que tengo que saber cómo se siente acerca de tener la gente en el aeropuerto cuando llegas a casa ? De lo que estoy leyendo en la página web Misionero de mi mamá , una gran cantidad de la RM a echar un ajuste duro volver a casa y algunos no les gusta a mucha gente (fuera de los amigos cercanos y la familia ) en el aeropuerto. ¿Cuáles son sus pensamientos ?

¿Te gusta mi español ? Puede ver . Por supuesto, espero que se traduce bien! Es confuso porque no puedo volver atrás y leerlo para ver lo que ya he hablado . Así que lo siento si me repito o parecen dejar algo.

Déjeme saber si usted tiene alguna pregunta . Voy a estar a mi equipo para la mayor parte del día . Quiero que sepas que estoy súper emocionada de tenerte en casa , pero estoy también iba a perder las bendiciones y estas cartas que recibimos cada semana . Simplemente no puedo creer lo rápido que el tiempo se está moviendo como el fin de su misión se acerca . Terminar fuerte a mi hijo ! No le de menos de 100 % . Te debes a ti mismo y el pueblo de Bolivia . Pero lo más importante , se lo debe al Señor ! Estoy seriamente contando los días . Al igual que varias veces al día sólo para asegurarse de que estoy en lo cierto.

No puedo esperar a oír hablar de su semana ! Te quiero mucho más de lo que nunca sabrás !

Amor - Mamá

Week 90

November 3, 2014

 

Family!!!

 

What a week! Wow!! I don’t know why but I’m super happy right now! Everyone seems great! So the thing I’m most excited about is that last night we had transfers!!! And.......I’m staying in Sacaba for my last transfer!!!!! With my companion!!! We are ending the mission together!!! President called us last night for the transfers and as he gave us the whole zone he ended with us and said "Are you ready for your transfer Elder Berrett?" Then my heart dropped because I thought I was leaving and he said "you are going to............stay with Elder Nicho in Sacaba as zone leaders" haha  We got pumped and may have yelled! hahaha. It was awesome. I love our President. We quickly gathered ourselves together, then went and thanked Heavenly Father. We are truly so happy! There are a couple super rare facts that come from this:

1.) I will finish the mission as a ZL in the same area for 6 transfers.

2.) I will complete 4 transfers with the same comp, that doesn’t happen.

3.) My companionship is and has been the oldest companionship in the mission.

Together we have 45 months of experience. Wow!! We are so excited!! And we are mainly excited because we work so hard together. We didn’t want to end our mission with anyone else. We are pretty excited for the people we are getting ready for baptism. And the less actives we are planning temple trips with.

 

Tuesday was a great day. Despite the distractions we still had 6 great lessons. We visited a family we've been teaching. We invited them to baptism and the daughters accepted, Majo and Laura. They came to a baptism on Saturday and really liked it. They both came to church yesterday and today came to the ward and played soccer with the members. They are really getting involved and loving it. They are a very special family for my companion and me. We are slowly having progress with their mom who is Catholic. But she loves us and always cooks us something super good when we go to their house. Tuesday we also had a great district meeting in the kitchen as we ate french toast and shared testimonies. It was the YUMMIEST testimony meeting I’ve ever been a part of. haha I love our district leader Elder Porter. I’m super excited to live in the same house as him.

 

Wednesday we woke up at 4:45 to be at the 6AM temple session with the whole mission! It was such a spiritual experience. I’m so grateful for the temple. I know the Lord is there and we really should consider and ponder more, the phrase "House of the Lord, Holiness to the Lord." I’ll share my pictures from that.

 

Friday we had a very cool experience. We were contacting people in the street and my comp decided he wanted to go down a street we've never been down before just because he wanted to. So I said yeah of course! As we turn the corner a drunk man stops us and yells "ELDERES!!! Como estan?"  We normally don’t talk with the drunks but he called us elders so we had to se what’s up. So he told us his name was Roberto Espinoza Perez, and that was baptized 7 years ago in Spain. He had two giant bottles of Chicha (a really famous Bolivian alcohol). We asked if we could walk with him to his house. He said of course! So we helped him wobble all the way back to his house about 5 blocks away. As we got there he told us his story and introduced us to his family, his wife and two daughters ages 2 and 4. He’s 37 years old and his wife is 22. He told us that he has gone off the deep end and wants to start over but he can’t because he has already been baptized. He obviously wasn’t that active for too long after his baptism. He had already lost hope. We didn’t teach him too much due to his conditions and memory, but we will go back to explain repentance and the Atonement. We did end up making a deal, that we will come back and help him and his family change if we could walk away with all the alcohol in his house. He gave it all to us. Can yell imagine two Mormon missionaries walking down the street with 6 bottles of booze?? Well, we did!! haha We walked about 2 blocks after helping him to bed then we took the bottles and dumped them dry into some bushes. We are praying very hard for him and his family. Tomorrow we go back. Let me tell you guys how thankful I am for the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement. So that I can repent and start over after making a mistake. The Lord loves ALL of his children enough to give them enough chances necessary. We just NEED to complete our part and USE the atonement of Christ. If we don’t repent and try to better ourselves, Jesus Christ died in vain. And I would hate to have had him suffer in vain.

 

I testify that Heavenly Father and his son, even Jesus Christ live. They are real beings. They lead and guide this church, this work, and each and every one of us. I know His plan is divine, and for us. We will see our loved ones again thanks to the temple of the Lord. I love you all and I thank you all for your support!! Until next week!!

 

Elder Berrett

 

Ward activity this morning playing soccer and volleyball!! Missionaries and also Majo and Laura who I told ya'll about!

Elder Hansen and I last night. The four of us in our house made a picnic and french toast to get ready for transfers! (we are really liking french toast these days)

At the temple with my zone!!! I love them so much!! We also invited President and Sister Hansen!

Me and Elder Stoddard

My Companion :)

Me and my companion the other night after ward council. We begged two little kids for their bikes hahaha

Me playing goalie on a future Messi (I let him score hehehehe, shhhh)

Week 89

October 27, 2014

 

Family!!!

 

God is amazing and really working with ALL of his children, his missionaries, members, investigators, less actives and everyone else. He really cares about all His children. I’m a witness. So this week was pretty normal which is the best!! No zone leader distractions or anything else. Just working!!

 

Wednesday, I had a very spiritual and uplifting personal study that left me thinking a lot. So I’m currently studying in the BOM. As I was reading in Jacob 5, I felt like the Lord lead and guide me in that moment. Jacob 5 is one of my favorite stories. The allegory of the olive trees. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to serve the Lord in any way. The first thing that caught my eye was that the Lord of the Vineyard constantly asks himself "What could I have done more for my vineyard?" or "what more can I do?" Obviously as a missionary I was left thinking the same thing. I prayed for strength and help to endure to the end. Then I read verse 71 and 72:

71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and laboring the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

This was the Lord speaking and telling me, "It's not over yet, go and keep working." I’ve given it my all up to this point. It would be a shame to start slowing down now. I had my regular interview this week with president and he asked me how I would like to finish my mission. I told him I want to finish like I’m just starting. I want to just be a normal missionary. He said that’s exactly right. And if you do that, the Lord will be very pleased. It was a very eye opening experience for me.

On Thursday it was about 8 o’ clock and we were about ready to go back to dinner but we felt like we had not finished. We felt like there was more to do. We even asked each other, so what do we do? So we stopped and prayed and then started walking. As we were walking, we heard a voice. Hola Elderes!!! We turned around and there were 3 girls that had the missionaries and gone to church before but had not been baptized. They wanted us to meet their family, so they took us to their house and we met their mom and dad and grandma. Their grandma we later discovered is a member! The Lord helped us find them. We are very excited to get to know this family better, the Baptist family, and teach them.

I’d like to end with my thoughts after listening to the temple president, President Jensen, talk yesterday in our stake conference that we had. He is an ex general authority of 25 years that was recently released. He focused his talk on one phrase. "When your priorities are out of order, you lose power." Holy cow, how that touched me. He told us about divine priorities and goals. He said when he finished his mission 54 years ago he made 3 divine goals and priorities that he would not fail in.

1. Always be worthy to hold a temple recommend. (hasn’t failed)

2. Pray twice a day on his knees every day, alone and with his wife. (hasn’t failed)

3. Read the BOM everyday (hasn’t failed)

54 years!! Those are Godly priorities that are in order. And he has not lost his power. I could feel it in his word. It was a great experience!

Well, I love you all so much! I hope all is well!! Hopefully I get your letter soon!!

Until next week!

Elder Berrett



Week 88

October 20, 2014

 

Family!!!

 

How is everyone!! I love all the fall and Halloween pics. Here, it’s hotter than heck and summer is underway. I’ll be all nice and tan when I see ya'll!!! haha Well it looks like everyone is wonderful. That makes me super happy!

 

So this week was so hot. I didn’t even use a backpack; I just took my scriptures and pamphlets in my hands. I don’t remember it being this hot last year. So we had a really good week. I’m really excited about the work that has been going on here and what we still have to do. We are preparing a girl named Maria Jose for baptism. I’m super excited for her. We are really happy for the work we are doing here because we are focusing more on less active families than ever before. When Elder Waddell of the Seventy was here, he told us that we need more active and faithful members.  And that we can compare it to an apple tree. When a person takes an apple off a tree, they start by taking the apples that are easiest to reach. In the Work of Salvation it’s the same. We need to save the people that are easiest to reach (the people that have a testimony and have lost it for a little while or the people that have recently been baptized and need strengthening). So that is what we are doing. We are focusing on them! We were planning on Friday night and for Saturday and we were truly inspired to visit a specific member, Bro. Mario Guzman. He’s active and very faithful. So we went and chatted with him for a good bit then he out of nowhere told us of 4 less active families that live in our area and have been less active for at least 5 years each. One family even 15 years. I love when the Lord literally just guides us to the people He is preparing. We then went and contacted each one of those families and one even came to church yesterday. This week we are planning on taking the Lozano family (Ligia, Ivan, and Nivia) to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. They want to take family names so bad so we are helping them do that this week through family search. I’m super excited. We've been having close contact with all the recent converts so they can know where they are going and what their main goal is, THE TEMPLE.

 

On Thursday we had some great experiences with the zone. My companion and I thought it would be a great idea to have weekly planning as a zone. So everyone went to their own rooms in the chapel and they planned for their investigators and area, etc. My comp and I passed by from room to room to answer questions and help them in any way possible. We asked that they share their goals as a companionship so that we can help them to reach those goals. It went super well and it was super cool to see and feel the trust that they have in us as we helped them with their problems. More than that, we could see that they trust in the Lord so much and really want his guidance. The Lord is really preparing his servants to have strong desires to do his will. On Friday, I had the chance to work all day with Elder Nazereno from Ecuador as we did a transfer. It was interesting to work in another area with another elder. It went super well. We had some great experiences contacting and talking with everyone.

 

From the past 21 months I’ve grown to love the people here. Even though I don’t agree with a lot of their ways and traditions, I love being here. I know the Lord sent me here because I had something to learn and someone to meet. On Saturday night I called the Salazar family from Quillacollo, remember them? I gave a baby blessing to their new baby almost a year ago. I think there are some pictures of us in the grass with their children after church one day. Anyways, we talked for about 20 minutes and I realized talking to them how much I missed them. I’ve never ended a conversation with so many tears as I hung up with Mariel, the 4 year old. They are still strong in the church and haven’t stopped going since they were activated a year ago. I have a very soft spot for them. I hope I can always have contact with them. I’m planning to visit them soon. Teresa, the mom, wants me to baptize her son, Pedro. I guess we will see if I can travel to Quillacollo for that next month.

 

Well, I love you so much! I hope all is well and everyone is doing great!! Mom, I love you too and I can’t wait to get tackled by you!! I’ll put my shoulder pads on! Until next week!!

 

Elder Berrett