15 Minutes...

Hi All!
This week it has been CRAZY BUSY at the VC because of the Christmas performances every night, but it has been fun! We also had our Stake Nativity festival the whole weekend, where over 300 nativities were displayed, with live choirs singing in the background! The event turned out spectacular.

Last week's P-day was crazy! We went to Mt. Hood, which was about an hour and a half away. I didn't know what that meant, but it turns out we were going up the snowy mountain to sled!  I was dressed in tennis shoes and not too warm clothes, but I still had a blast!! We had 6 sister missionaries and some other friends come. We walked forever up the mountain till we got to a really steep slope and slid down a bunch of times with about 7 sleds. It was definitely a top P-day of my mission!
I have lots of miracles to share of course, but here is one of the most recent ones. This one occurred on a "bad day", and we didn't recognize it as a miracle until "after the trial of our faith" (Ether 12:6).

Miracle #1- Saturday, we had nothing planned for the morning. We had tried, but nothing was solid and everything fell through. We were discouraged, but went out anyway. Sister Melgaard says this normally happens when we are meant to run into or happen into some cool situation where the Lord needed us. We hoped this would happen. However, no one we visited was answering. On our way out of a neighborhood, sister Melgaard said " we are close to the "Grant family". Let's go visit them." So we called and the husband said to come over, so we did. The husband and wife are semi-active in the Ward and are fun to visit with. We didn't really feel particularly prompted to go over there. We talked about him fellow-shipping one of our investigators, but we did not have any particularly spiritual conversation. We left with plans for lunch on P-day. We left and were able to contact a very less- active woman,but again, it was just kind of a mediocre day.
Well, today at church,  "Sister Grant"came up to us, and she was like "what did you tell my husband last night!???" I came home last night, and he said: " honey, we need to go grocery shopping because I have decided not to shop on Sunday anymore, I am cooking dinner tomorrow, and we need to start reading scriptures and praying daily."..... She said "good thing I was sitting because I would have fallen over." She was in tears, she was so grateful. She has been trying to get him to turn things around and read scriptures with her for months, maybe even years!!
 The weirdest thing is- we didn't even really say anything spiritual to him! We know now that we were meant to see him and that the day was productive. We had no idea just how much they were struggling. The Lord is so wonderful. He really does take our efforts and multiply them by a million.

Its amazing what can happen because of 15 minutes of conversation!
Miracle #2: At Tuesday Evening's performance in the VC, one of our investigators and her friend showed up! She is the one whose only family, her father, died suddenly. We talked to her, and it was amazing to see the difference in her countenance from the week before when she had no hope to now.They walked over to the Book of Mormon booth and she LOVED a video that talked about having faith.  She was like this is what I need- it's super simple!  They are going to come back every Tuesday night. I found out that she has been to church for 6-8 weeks of her own accord! :) She left like a kid in a candy store - smiling from ear to ear and super excited about learning more.

Again - It's amazing what 15 minutes of feeling the Spirit can give a person :)

Miracle #3 - Guess what?? Nancy, the woman I had the miracle with at the VC a couple weeks ago, she is on date to get baptized. I am so excited for her! Though the baptism is outside my mission, I got permission to go. I am so excited :) 

It's amazing what 15 minutes of sibling conversation can bring :)

Miracle #5 : One of our recent converts came into the VC this week for a Christmas performance, but during it, she got a text that she did not get a job she had applied for. She lost her other job this week, so she was very distraught. We promised her to just have faith and that the Lord cares about her. Later that evening, she called us. She had emailed another place to see if the had any openings. The manager said they did have an opening, got her resume, and there is a good chance she will get the other job. It was amazing to see how quickly the Lord can respond to our prayers for help when we are following the commandments and trying to have faith!

One thing I have been studying this week is the Atonement. 2 Nephi 9 is incredible. I have also been pondering the difference between mercy and justice. Do you know the difference?

 Because of Jesus Christ's Atonement, we can all be exempt from the demands of justice which demand consequences for our sins, and the Lord is allowed to have mercy on us and let us start over, again and again. Jesus already paid for those sins.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  "Even Christ did not convert everyone....He was perfect and knew EXACTLY what they needed, but he understood the principle of AGENCY." 

I am so grateful to have my agency - to be able to choose what I want to do in my life, but I know that if I follow the road that Jesus Christ walked, that my life will be so much happier and more rewarding in the end. Though living the gospel is hard, it has been rewarding, is rewarding, and will continue to bring me great, eternal blessings!

This Christmas season, you have probably seen the "He is the Gift" video on Facebook or on other social media. If you haven't seen it, please do! it is only 3 minutes long,  but it is an incredible message. Jesus Christ truly is the greatest gift we have ever been given. This Christmas season, I invite you to give a gift back to Christ by giving of your time or love to a stranger, even if it is only 15 minutes. As you have read, 15 minutes can make a huge difference in people's lives!

Well, that is it for this week!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sister Bergman