"First I obey, then I understand." - Marjorie Hinckley

Dear family-

 

This quote means a lot to me. it summarizes my mission beautifully. what an attitude to cultivate- i adore Sis. Hinckley's humble, faithful, trusting approach in how she lived her life- obeying even before having full understanding- and then seen after taking action, seeing the wisdom of her heavenly father and why He asks and directs as He does. It is our job to obey Him, not question Him or bemoan so called "fate" or responsibilities- but to approach all realities or responsibilities/rules with the attitude of assurance that God would never ask something of us that will not ultimately be for our God and lead to become the people we need to be. We must trust in His love and His wisdom no matter the call- acting even without full understanding at times- trusting that understanding and blessings will ensue. this is the attitude i have strived to possess- this is the trust that i have come to cultivate after many patient lessons from my Heavenly father. I can truly say I have learned to trust the Lord and I have a firm resolve to obey Him in all things, whatever he may direct or ask- because i know He is taking care of me, and i know that additional knowledge and understanding WILL COME just as it has in the past.

 

This week was intense- i have a new companion! Her name is sister Holmoe! Her dad is the athletic director at BYU i knew her name sounded familiar! the cool part is I knew she was going to be my companion- i told everyine that bc i just had a feeling- and then it came true! I love her!!!!  we get along great, she is loving, and we run every morning 2 miles! Right before she got here we set a baptismal date with our investigator cora for June 14th! 

       We had 3 investigators at church this week- cora, phil, and evelyn. I havent gotten to tell you about Evelyn yet. amazing. evelyn is a woman we met and started teaching last week. she contacted us- bc she has been away from the church for 20+ years, her name was removed from the church- but she wants to be rebaptized. this is amazing! many things have happened in her life leading to this point- but she said it hit her like a ton of bricks while she was sitting in her church last week, she said, "this isnt it. I miss the priesthood. I miss the fulness." her heart is very tender right now and sensitive- but what a beautiful privilege and sacred experience it is to reteach this woman, and see her testimony be restored to her- she wants to be baptized as soon as possible. we meet with her 3 times a week! she even came to church this sunday (despite many fears) for the first time in 20 years and it could not have gone better! she was so afraid, but afterwards she cried and said, "heavenly father took care of me- that could not have been better" and she cried and cried. she has read 20 chapters of Nephi in the course of only  2 days. incredible. I will never forget in her closing prayer after our lesson last night she cried and said, "thank you God, for my missionaries." I love when people say it like that, "my missionaries" it touches my heart bc you know and can feel in that moment that they will never forget you! Just as I will never forget them. it touched my heart and meant a lot to me. everything does now especially, with only 6 weeks left. I feel a surge of emotion well up in my heart every time I testify of the BOM knowing that my time to do so as a set apart missionary is short. My mind is more centered on my mission than ever before. I feel the desire to show God my devotion to the end, bc i know it is a reflection of my love for Him and His children, and my mission has been more beautiful, and He has made more of me and taught me more than i ever DREAMED and CONCEIVED possible!!!! and i even had high expectations- and oh how He has surpassed what i ever thought possible in the people He has led me to, the lessons He has taught me with such care and effort, all the opportunities He has given, and what He has allowed me to become. I am in AWE. I desire nothing but to serve Him faithfully to the end and throughout my life. My heart is overcome and I can barely feel the fatigue I am so overcome with the spirit. 

We met a boy named Victor with a sweet Spanish family who speak a little English- we taught him about the BOM and he said over and over again, "Wow I cant believe this! oh!" and he would put his hand on his heart and say, "please, can i keep this?" i have never met a 15 yr old boy like that before. He is so sincere- just hidden in this little trailer in the woods- but HE IS KNOWN TO GOD. The desires of his heart are known to God! and that is why He led us straight to his door! also- a little boy in our ward, the oaks- they took us out to dinner and at the end the little boy said he wanted to ask me something- i said sure, and he said, "will you speak at my baptism?" i was so touched! it really meant a lot to me! his parents said they would be sure to do it before i left. oh- that really touched my heart. we also got to teach 2 teenage girls about virtue and the law of chastity- they were riveted and the spirit was very strong. I will never tire of testifying and teaching of the iportance of virtue to girls in todays world and how to be strong. We committed them to make a list of standards they would not break no matter who might ask them to.

 I am very grateful to My Father in Heaven- I know if I just rely on Him all things will be as they should. I love you :)

Love sister Bertoldo

"How Great Thou Art"

Dear Family-

What a week!!!!!!!!! oh my gosh. ok so first off Rex got baptized!! it was amazing- started off stressful with planning but it all came together and was well attended and he was so full of JOY. the spirit was SO STRONG- the first counselor of our mission presidency was there for it and he said after having an interview with rex that he is one of the most, "well prepared for baptism" that he has ever had the privilege of meeting :) funny thing though! the font was having some technical difficulties so by the time it was time for him to be baptized it was drained halfway! so he had to get baptized laying down instead of standing! i was dying- but it turned out fine.  He was confirmed this sunday and it was a beautiful blessing. He is one of the most exciting amazing conversions of my mission to witness. truly- amazing.
then- this week oh my gosh- we met violet.

let me tell you about Violet. She is ELECT- we come out on missions searching for people like her- and in the last 6 weeks of my mission- God leads us to Violet. incredible. this woman is the most prepared person i have ever met on my mission and in my life. both me and my comp cried afterwards we were so overwhelmed with gratitude. She was a referral from a ward member who is her coworker. he has already given her a BOM and a D&C and she has been reading them! she is full of the light of christ!!!!!!!!! she GLOWS! her smile- my gosh, she glows. she is a special daughter of god. you can feel it. all her life she has noticed the church because of the mormon messages on family she saw all growing up- she said she always wondered why we cared so much about the family and she loved it. she said she has always wanted to know, and as we taught her, she took notes- she is truly the most sincere person i have ever met. you can feel it. as we were explaining, reading, and testifying of the Book of Mormon she was absolutely feeling the spirit- then we showed her a mormon message of the BOM and tears started streaming down her face. she has 4 kids, recently got divorced, and more than anything wants her family to be united and strong. We read 2 ne 25:23, 26 talking about how the gospel blesses families- we invited her to church this sunday. she came! she came. i prayed the night before specifically that she would hear messages specifically for her at church the next day. well all the sacrament meeting talks were on how the priesthood blesses families. I will never forget-after 2nd hour (our lesson was on the atonement) she suddenly broke down in tears. she was quiet- but she was sitting by me- and i could feel it! i could feel and see that the spirit was testifying to her of truth right before my eyes- it overwhelmed me and filled me with joy that i also  began to cry. i have never seen that or felt that so directly before- the spirit just witnessing to her- i went to hug her and she just cried on me more. she told me through her tears, "i feel something..i feel something." but she never could get it out what she felt- i told her she was feeling the spirit. then i didnt talk anymore either bc i could feel that the Spirit was still talking. I will never forget that. 

Then right after cora's lesson we get a call from Cierra telling us that her cousing Quinton just called her (the one who came to church last sunday) saying that he wants to be baptized and become a member of the church. he said he can't get the feeling he felt at church out of his mind and wants to be baptized.

Our new investigator Cora also came to church. we gave her a church tour this week to help her feel more comfortable. she has been through a lot of heartache and abuse, and overcome a lot of terrible things- she came to church yesterday as well and loved it. relief society as well.  Our investigator Alton also came to church! he too will be baptized soon. After so much work, care, prayer, study, persistence and patience- the lord is truly pouring out his spirit abundantly on us, leading us to elect- and MIRACLES ARE ENSUING! it is overwhelming! in the most beautiful amazing way. I am full of gratitude. These people are precious. 

We also got to meet with wei- from China. We had quite a language barrier- but somehow we were able to communicate and teach the most important aspects of the God head and Book of Mormon. It was a very hot day, yet all i could think was how much God loved this woman- teaching her was a joy despite the language barrier and heat. oh what a privilege missionary work is!!!!!!! what a privilege! I loved teaching wei about her savior Jesus Christ- we even brought her a chinese BOM and she was overjoyed! we are seeing her again next week. so yes- this was quite a week- my new companion is sister Holmoe for my last 6 weeks. i am excited to meet her!  the crazy part is- i knew it was going to be her. i just had a feeling :) God is good. i am going to sprint!! Love you all. so yes- to sum up my feelings of this week, it is truly, "how great Thou art."

Much Love

sister Bertoldo