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
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