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)