Hermana Bernal
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Final week!
I love you guys. Here are some photos from this week. This week Oscar was baptized, I don`t have time to write about it, but it was amazing. We also did a family home evening reenacting Lehi`s dream and other fun stuff. Still hasn`t sunk in that I am going home. See you Thursdaynight. I also saw someone from Connor`s mission!
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Week 71: What I want you to know before I come home
Hello!! Each week goes by so fast, AH!
This week I was asked to give a class on what I want the mission to know before I go home, and I wanted to share with you guys some of what I taught.
As missionaries we invite the people we teach to make changes in their lives. What kinds of changes? Some examples are to stop doing drugs, to pray daily, to read the scriptures, to live the law of chastity by getting married, we made a nice list. Then, we made a list of things that we do on the mission that we didn´t do before- Maybe we don´t have to stop doing drugs, but we learn to do exercise 30 minutes every morning. Maybe we don´t get married to live the law of chastity, but we do learn to live with a companion and discipline our thoughts. Maybe we read the scriptures and prayed before the mission, but we weren´t outside teaching it from 9am-9pm. So we arrive to the question, how we can we expect the investigators (people we teach) to make changes in their lives if we aren´t willing to make these changes ourselves?
And what is my reward for making all these changes?
¨And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good...Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame.. The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh... And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness... These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges¨ (Alma 41)
So what does this mean? That according to our works and the DESIRES of our hearts, we will be rewarded. I then passed out a couple slips of paper that each had a question as follows:
Do I follow mission rules because I want people to know I am an ¨obedient till I die¨missionary, or because of my love for God?
Do I change my behavior for two years? Or I change my behavior for my life?
Do I aspire to be a good missionary? Or do I aspire to be a useful servant of God?
Each of these questions reveals two different kinds of desires- the desire to do good because other people are watching, or the desire to be good because it is what God wants. The next slips of paper read:
I get up everyday because I feel obligated to, or because I feel satisfaction in what I do?
Am I constantly counting the sacrifices I make for other people, or do I do it without counting the cost?
Do I feel happy when I see that other people are successful, or does it make me feel like less?
Do I measure my success comparing it with that of those around me, or do I compare myself to Jesus Christ?
Do I try to teach lessons that amaze people of how much doctrine I know, or do I teach for understanding?
Do I use my calling to help others, or to receive praise?
Am I sure that the way that I correct others, is how Jesus Christ would correct them if he were in my place?
According to what Alma said, each desire has it´s reward. So what reward are we hoping for? Are we searching for the recognition of men, or the recognition of God? Do we do things everyday because we have to, or because we want to?
The joy just doesn´t fit in my little 4 foot 9 inch body to be here for a little over 18 months. That´s all there is to it.
This week was Father´s day in Honduras, and we planned an activity, ¨Cerro Grande´s Strongest Dad¨. Enjoy the photos.
I LOVE YOU
Hermana Bernal
This week I was asked to give a class on what I want the mission to know before I go home, and I wanted to share with you guys some of what I taught.
As missionaries we invite the people we teach to make changes in their lives. What kinds of changes? Some examples are to stop doing drugs, to pray daily, to read the scriptures, to live the law of chastity by getting married, we made a nice list. Then, we made a list of things that we do on the mission that we didn´t do before- Maybe we don´t have to stop doing drugs, but we learn to do exercise 30 minutes every morning. Maybe we don´t get married to live the law of chastity, but we do learn to live with a companion and discipline our thoughts. Maybe we read the scriptures and prayed before the mission, but we weren´t outside teaching it from 9am-9pm. So we arrive to the question, how we can we expect the investigators (people we teach) to make changes in their lives if we aren´t willing to make these changes ourselves?
And what is my reward for making all these changes?
¨And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good...Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame.. The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh... And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness... These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges¨ (Alma 41)
So what does this mean? That according to our works and the DESIRES of our hearts, we will be rewarded. I then passed out a couple slips of paper that each had a question as follows:
Do I follow mission rules because I want people to know I am an ¨obedient till I die¨missionary, or because of my love for God?
Do I change my behavior for two years? Or I change my behavior for my life?
Do I aspire to be a good missionary? Or do I aspire to be a useful servant of God?
Each of these questions reveals two different kinds of desires- the desire to do good because other people are watching, or the desire to be good because it is what God wants. The next slips of paper read:
I get up everyday because I feel obligated to, or because I feel satisfaction in what I do?
Am I constantly counting the sacrifices I make for other people, or do I do it without counting the cost?
Do I feel happy when I see that other people are successful, or does it make me feel like less?
Do I measure my success comparing it with that of those around me, or do I compare myself to Jesus Christ?
Do I try to teach lessons that amaze people of how much doctrine I know, or do I teach for understanding?
Do I use my calling to help others, or to receive praise?
Am I sure that the way that I correct others, is how Jesus Christ would correct them if he were in my place?
According to what Alma said, each desire has it´s reward. So what reward are we hoping for? Are we searching for the recognition of men, or the recognition of God? Do we do things everyday because we have to, or because we want to?
The joy just doesn´t fit in my little 4 foot 9 inch body to be here for a little over 18 months. That´s all there is to it.
This week was Father´s day in Honduras, and we planned an activity, ¨Cerro Grande´s Strongest Dad¨. Enjoy the photos.
I LOVE YOU
Hermana Bernal
Monday, March 20, 2017
Week 70:"Don't count the days make the days count"
Hello family!
Here we are, taking every day on the mission one day at a time. This week I heard one of the most exciting news as I was on divisions with our Hermana Training leaders. The hermana leader I was with (also named Hermana Bernal, she´s from Mexico) told me about a couple that I had taught in Graneros, an area in the South, named Alma and Eric. I wrote to you guys about the experience when Alma (the mom) told us she has read the pamphlet and thought that out of all that she read the greatest part was when she felt the reality of how ¨God is our Heavenly Father, he loves us, and has prepared a plan for us to return back to him¨. We continued to work with Alma and Eric for my whole transfer because their daughter Tatiana was going to church by herself but Alma and Eric had never made it on Sunday and had many doubts about marriage and baptism. I worked a lot on my patience with them, because in the time that I was there, they never went to church all together as a family. BUT.... this week Hermana Bernal told me that they are getting married on the 1st of April and baptized the week after!!!!!!!
That whole day I was just going crazy happy and thought about my purpose as a missionary- We are here to invite others to Christ and receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Throughout my mission, I have focused on this as being my personal motivation to get up everyday and keep going. This week I realized that with many, maybe my part in their progress is just to help them have faith. Maybe for others I will help them make changes in their life through repentance, maybe to others I will lead them to the step of baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, and to many others just enduring to the end. It is interesting how when we plant a seed, God makes something so small, so unexpecting, into something much bigger and grander than we could imagine, even a tree. My excitement was not contained to hear that a seed that I had helped plant in the lives of Alma and Eric was soon turning into a tree.
Cerro Grande is seriously the most supportive branch I have ever been in. We do three Family Home Evenings a week, that are not just for individual families, but families will literally voluntary their homes to host FHEs for the whole branch! They are all so active it is awesome! Throughout my whole mission I have prayed for priesthood to find and baptized, the church being very young in Honduras is in need of worthy priesthood holders. God has blessed us so much with 3 future priesthood holders all found in these past two weeks. It is just unbelievable how much God is making this last transfer literally heaven for me.
I´m excited to see you all in a couple weeks, but don´t any of you think I feel ready to go home because my time is still not up. An old fellow once told me, ¨don´t count the days, make the days count¨ (Connor Bernal) hehe
I LOVE YOU!
Hermana Bernal
Here we are, taking every day on the mission one day at a time. This week I heard one of the most exciting news as I was on divisions with our Hermana Training leaders. The hermana leader I was with (also named Hermana Bernal, she´s from Mexico) told me about a couple that I had taught in Graneros, an area in the South, named Alma and Eric. I wrote to you guys about the experience when Alma (the mom) told us she has read the pamphlet and thought that out of all that she read the greatest part was when she felt the reality of how ¨God is our Heavenly Father, he loves us, and has prepared a plan for us to return back to him¨. We continued to work with Alma and Eric for my whole transfer because their daughter Tatiana was going to church by herself but Alma and Eric had never made it on Sunday and had many doubts about marriage and baptism. I worked a lot on my patience with them, because in the time that I was there, they never went to church all together as a family. BUT.... this week Hermana Bernal told me that they are getting married on the 1st of April and baptized the week after!!!!!!!
That whole day I was just going crazy happy and thought about my purpose as a missionary- We are here to invite others to Christ and receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Throughout my mission, I have focused on this as being my personal motivation to get up everyday and keep going. This week I realized that with many, maybe my part in their progress is just to help them have faith. Maybe for others I will help them make changes in their life through repentance, maybe to others I will lead them to the step of baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, and to many others just enduring to the end. It is interesting how when we plant a seed, God makes something so small, so unexpecting, into something much bigger and grander than we could imagine, even a tree. My excitement was not contained to hear that a seed that I had helped plant in the lives of Alma and Eric was soon turning into a tree.
Cerro Grande is seriously the most supportive branch I have ever been in. We do three Family Home Evenings a week, that are not just for individual families, but families will literally voluntary their homes to host FHEs for the whole branch! They are all so active it is awesome! Throughout my whole mission I have prayed for priesthood to find and baptized, the church being very young in Honduras is in need of worthy priesthood holders. God has blessed us so much with 3 future priesthood holders all found in these past two weeks. It is just unbelievable how much God is making this last transfer literally heaven for me.
I´m excited to see you all in a couple weeks, but don´t any of you think I feel ready to go home because my time is still not up. An old fellow once told me, ¨don´t count the days, make the days count¨ (Connor Bernal) hehe
I LOVE YOU!
Hermana Bernal
Monday, March 13, 2017
Week 69: Cerro Grande!
HI!
Cerro Grande is so much fun, like I mentioned the area is HUGE so we spend a lot of time walking. This week was funny because after spending so much money on mototaxis to save time between appointments (mototaxis are like gocarts that are commonly used for transportation, so fun) we were seriously running into a financial crisis and at night we saw how God answered our prayers and left 40 lempiras left on the ground on our walk home!
My companion continues to amaze me with her humility. This week one time we were really hungry and all we had packed for lunch (we didn`t buy food for the same reason) was a little sandwich one for each of us, and as we were eating a little girl came up to us and started talking. My companion then parted her sandwich, giving her basically a whole half of it, and knowing how hungry she was and how hungry I was, my jaw literally just dropped and I just said to her, "you are one Christ-like soul." She laughed, a little uncomfortable that I had pointed out something so kind that she did, but I was seriously just amazed.
Enjoy the photos! Love you all
Hermana Bernal
My companion continues to amaze me with her humility. This week one time we were really hungry and all we had packed for lunch (we didn`t buy food for the same reason) was a little sandwich one for each of us, and as we were eating a little girl came up to us and started talking. My companion then parted her sandwich, giving her basically a whole half of it, and knowing how hungry she was and how hungry I was, my jaw literally just dropped and I just said to her, "you are one Christ-like soul." She laughed, a little uncomfortable that I had pointed out something so kind that she did, but I was seriously just amazed.
Enjoy the photos! Love you all
Hermana Bernal
Monday, March 6, 2017
Week 68: I got bit by a scorpion!
Hello!!
Ohh my goodness. This week was such a breath of fresh air, my new companion is Hermana Fifita, her family is from Tonga and I have not laughed as hard as I have had with her for way too long. Our area is called "Cerro Grande", and yes, it is quite grande. To get from one appointment to the next we walk a minimum of 30 minutes, it is a huge adjustment from being in the city! I also got bit by a scorpion in the middle of the night my second day, at 3 am I wake up to what I thought was a cockroach or something yanking off my finger and as I turn on the lights, there I find the creature in my blanket. Luckily scorpions here are not poisonous, but it HURT. I decided to have charity towards the creature, and so using a cup I threw it outside. Stupid scorpion.
My favorite experience from this week was helping a recent convert build her kitchen. From the street to her house on the side of the mountain 20 minutes away we (my companion and other members) carried bags of bricks and blocks of mud. It was pretty intense, and it was so cool to see so many people so freely offering their service with nothing in return.
My companion has had one transfer in the mission and started the mission out knowing zero of spanish. She reminds me so much of me when I started out, the awkward laughs when you don`t know what`s going on, getting frustrated with communication issues, wishing you could express yourself better, the beginning of the mission is hard. But the one thing that I have loved is seeing how in lessons, she says everything so passionately. Although she may not speak very much for now, the little that she says is often exactly what investigators need to hear, nothing more and nothing less. My goal for this transfer is to build her confidence because unfortunately her first trainer was a little impatient... the good thing is the mistakes that are made don`t phase me, a huge part of the mission for me has been learning to continually forgive and forget in companionship and only serve.
Have a great week!
Hermana Bernal
Ohh my goodness. This week was such a breath of fresh air, my new companion is Hermana Fifita, her family is from Tonga and I have not laughed as hard as I have had with her for way too long. Our area is called "Cerro Grande", and yes, it is quite grande. To get from one appointment to the next we walk a minimum of 30 minutes, it is a huge adjustment from being in the city! I also got bit by a scorpion in the middle of the night my second day, at 3 am I wake up to what I thought was a cockroach or something yanking off my finger and as I turn on the lights, there I find the creature in my blanket. Luckily scorpions here are not poisonous, but it HURT. I decided to have charity towards the creature, and so using a cup I threw it outside. Stupid scorpion.
My favorite experience from this week was helping a recent convert build her kitchen. From the street to her house on the side of the mountain 20 minutes away we (my companion and other members) carried bags of bricks and blocks of mud. It was pretty intense, and it was so cool to see so many people so freely offering their service with nothing in return.
My companion has had one transfer in the mission and started the mission out knowing zero of spanish. She reminds me so much of me when I started out, the awkward laughs when you don`t know what`s going on, getting frustrated with communication issues, wishing you could express yourself better, the beginning of the mission is hard. But the one thing that I have loved is seeing how in lessons, she says everything so passionately. Although she may not speak very much for now, the little that she says is often exactly what investigators need to hear, nothing more and nothing less. My goal for this transfer is to build her confidence because unfortunately her first trainer was a little impatient... the good thing is the mistakes that are made don`t phase me, a huge part of the mission for me has been learning to continually forgive and forget in companionship and only serve.
Have a great week!
Hermana Bernal
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Week 67: Transferred for my last 6 weeks!
Hello family and friends!
This next week that comes up I will be transferred to a new area, and unfortunately have to say goodbye to the "Girasoles" area on Wednesday. It has been a blast serving as Hermana Enfermera and in the capital of Honduras, and I´m excited to see what adventures lie ahead for my last 6 weeks! Also I will go back to writing on Mondays.
Some ups and downs from these past couple of weeks:
On Valentines day I almost got a smootch from a creepy homeless man, the other day I ALMOST got bit by a stray dog (my companion said that it literally was about to sink it´s teeth into my leg and then just turned its head as if it didn´t feel like it anymore, seriously a miracle), this week I felt proud of myself because I helped someone with their math homework and realized that not all of my knowledge of rationalizing denominators has diminished, a couple missionaries stayed in our house to go to hospital appointments, all in all, a great month!
Out of all of the ups and downs in these two transfers that Hermana Nuñez and I have had in our area, the highest up was seeing the change in our recent convert´s mom, named Clarissa. In the beginning when we first found Arely (her daughter, the convert), Clarissa had shown indifference to our visits, when she was there she would listen, but she told us about how the missionaries had taught her 10 years ago when Arely was 4 years old and she wasn´t married, and though she received them for awhile, very quickly lost interest. The missionaries stopped visiting, and she decided to join the Jehova´s witness congregation...
10 years later we find her daughter, Clarissa always giving her daughter the freedom to choose what church to attend, but as for herself she never entered into a church building until the day of Arely´s baptism. When Arely was baptized, we played the Restoration video, and she began to ask so many questions, and we were so excited to see a spark of interest in her. It was funny the first time that we taught the Plan of Salvation, and how we will live in the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial kingdom after judgement (1 corinthians 15:40), we asked the classic question, "In what kingdom would you like to live in?" To our surprise, she answered, "Right now, the Terestrial kingdom". Although it was a shock to hear that answer, we knew from that moment that she began to understand what really was required of her to live again with God. Little by little we taught her the blessings and restored truths of the gospel, and she always told us that she wanted to have a perfect knowledge before making any big decisions of going to church or anything, but little by little she would have moments where she just told us out of the blue "I am really starting to like this, I´m thinking that that must mean it is true". It was so cool to see her recognize with little help the way that the Spirit offers answers to our prayers- simple changes in our desires and thoughts, little "aHA" moments, or when you just feel like something makes sense.. Three times she put a goal to be baptized and three times that baptismal date fell through, each time she would say "I just don´t feel ready, I want to be more sure"..
This week after deciding for sure to be baptized, she told us that what made the difference this time was that as she saw the truths of the gospel line up between the Bible and the Book of Mormon, she began to know for herself that it was really true. And, apparently the Elders that taught her 10 years ago had unfortunately told her "we don´t use the Bible" (yikes, completely false).. I remember when I first felt the same way, comparing the footnotes of the Book of Mormon and Bible, and seeing how all of the pieces of the gospel fit together so perfectly, there is nothing that I love more than feeling like I understand a little more about what God expects from me.
I know I´m definitely gonna miss the area Gira Soles so much, and I´m sure I´ll miss the missionary phone calls of "I have diarrhea, what do I do??", even more.
Photos will be sent next weeeeeek!!
Love you all!
Hermana Bernal
This next week that comes up I will be transferred to a new area, and unfortunately have to say goodbye to the "Girasoles" area on Wednesday. It has been a blast serving as Hermana Enfermera and in the capital of Honduras, and I´m excited to see what adventures lie ahead for my last 6 weeks! Also I will go back to writing on Mondays.
Some ups and downs from these past couple of weeks:
On Valentines day I almost got a smootch from a creepy homeless man, the other day I ALMOST got bit by a stray dog (my companion said that it literally was about to sink it´s teeth into my leg and then just turned its head as if it didn´t feel like it anymore, seriously a miracle), this week I felt proud of myself because I helped someone with their math homework and realized that not all of my knowledge of rationalizing denominators has diminished, a couple missionaries stayed in our house to go to hospital appointments, all in all, a great month!
Out of all of the ups and downs in these two transfers that Hermana Nuñez and I have had in our area, the highest up was seeing the change in our recent convert´s mom, named Clarissa. In the beginning when we first found Arely (her daughter, the convert), Clarissa had shown indifference to our visits, when she was there she would listen, but she told us about how the missionaries had taught her 10 years ago when Arely was 4 years old and she wasn´t married, and though she received them for awhile, very quickly lost interest. The missionaries stopped visiting, and she decided to join the Jehova´s witness congregation...
10 years later we find her daughter, Clarissa always giving her daughter the freedom to choose what church to attend, but as for herself she never entered into a church building until the day of Arely´s baptism. When Arely was baptized, we played the Restoration video, and she began to ask so many questions, and we were so excited to see a spark of interest in her. It was funny the first time that we taught the Plan of Salvation, and how we will live in the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial kingdom after judgement (1 corinthians 15:40), we asked the classic question, "In what kingdom would you like to live in?" To our surprise, she answered, "Right now, the Terestrial kingdom". Although it was a shock to hear that answer, we knew from that moment that she began to understand what really was required of her to live again with God. Little by little we taught her the blessings and restored truths of the gospel, and she always told us that she wanted to have a perfect knowledge before making any big decisions of going to church or anything, but little by little she would have moments where she just told us out of the blue "I am really starting to like this, I´m thinking that that must mean it is true". It was so cool to see her recognize with little help the way that the Spirit offers answers to our prayers- simple changes in our desires and thoughts, little "aHA" moments, or when you just feel like something makes sense.. Three times she put a goal to be baptized and three times that baptismal date fell through, each time she would say "I just don´t feel ready, I want to be more sure"..
This week after deciding for sure to be baptized, she told us that what made the difference this time was that as she saw the truths of the gospel line up between the Bible and the Book of Mormon, she began to know for herself that it was really true. And, apparently the Elders that taught her 10 years ago had unfortunately told her "we don´t use the Bible" (yikes, completely false).. I remember when I first felt the same way, comparing the footnotes of the Book of Mormon and Bible, and seeing how all of the pieces of the gospel fit together so perfectly, there is nothing that I love more than feeling like I understand a little more about what God expects from me.
I know I´m definitely gonna miss the area Gira Soles so much, and I´m sure I´ll miss the missionary phone calls of "I have diarrhea, what do I do??", even more.
Photos will be sent next weeeeeek!!
Love you all!
Hermana Bernal
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Week 65: Mission Blog Link
Hermana Bernal has been busy these past few weeks but you can also learn more about her mission through her the Mission President's blog!
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Week 64: Reflection of Gratitude Towards God
Hi Family!
This week was a good week! Seeing lots of progress in the area is the best! I now officially know that I will get home Thursday April 13th for those who wanted to know!
Something I have been learning this week is how my relationship with the people that surround me is a reflection of my gratitude towards God. Sometimes as human beings (or maybe it´s just me) we have this tunnel vision that only permits us to see the here and right now.. We get frustrated quickly, we criticize easily, and sometimes we call our complete withdrawal from conflict "patience" rather than proactively untangling the mess of misunderstandings. This change I have had multiple opportunities to learn from misunderstandings from my companion. And I have realized that after God has patiently and lovingly allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them overtime, I owe it to Him to allow the people I work with time and love as they work through their mistakes.
Something funny that happened last night was that right before entering a family´s house, the city´s power went out (when the power goes home at night we have to go straight home) and our house was a little far away so we were scared to leave, and the guy kindly offered us a machete for the walk home haha. We decided to save our machete skills for another day and call a member to accompany us home :)
At the weeks end I am happy, we are still safe even without machetes, and my body is in the process of converting into a life size frijol.
Sending love from Honduras!
This week was a good week! Seeing lots of progress in the area is the best! I now officially know that I will get home Thursday April 13th for those who wanted to know!
Something I have been learning this week is how my relationship with the people that surround me is a reflection of my gratitude towards God. Sometimes as human beings (or maybe it´s just me) we have this tunnel vision that only permits us to see the here and right now.. We get frustrated quickly, we criticize easily, and sometimes we call our complete withdrawal from conflict "patience" rather than proactively untangling the mess of misunderstandings. This change I have had multiple opportunities to learn from misunderstandings from my companion. And I have realized that after God has patiently and lovingly allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them overtime, I owe it to Him to allow the people I work with time and love as they work through their mistakes.
Something funny that happened last night was that right before entering a family´s house, the city´s power went out (when the power goes home at night we have to go straight home) and our house was a little far away so we were scared to leave, and the guy kindly offered us a machete for the walk home haha. We decided to save our machete skills for another day and call a member to accompany us home :)
At the weeks end I am happy, we are still safe even without machetes, and my body is in the process of converting into a life size frijol.
Sending love from Honduras!
Hermana Bernal
Week 63: "Righteous desires will be granted"
Hi all!
WOW these couple of weeks have been jam packed. At the Christmas celebration I casually won a prize for doing an 8:30 min plank (which let me tell you was pure adrenaline, I´ve never gotten past 4 minutes in my life), ate a BILLION torrejas (Honduran style french toast, a Christmas tradition), and nacatamales, traveled to district meetings to do the health presentations (the purpose being for them to be self sufficient in knowing what over the counter medication to take like Acetominophen or Tabcin instead of calling us to say that they have a cough haha) This calling has really helped me learn to listen carefully and attentively to what people are going through. In my life I have been blessed to have a very healthy body, I rarely get sick and minor discomforts usually go away quickly. However in the mission I have realized that not everyone has had the same opportunities or education of personal health and I need to be sensitive when someone calls to say "I have asthma and I have trouble breathing". I can´t just say, "Tough luck the mission is hard, drink some water and you´ll be fine" haha. On the other hand I have also learned to ask questions to understand if something is really as serious as someone describes.
There was also the week of transfers, and it was really fun teaching the newbies the basic "10 Health Commandments", things like always using pure water, not eating street food, etc. It´s always fun to interact with new missionaries, pobrecitos they have no idea what they are getting into. Just kidding the mission is the best.
In the past 3 weeks a lot was happening in the Nursing end, but on the working in our area end I was starting to fall into a pit of frustration, oops. With limited time in the area, I feel an extra push to use our time effectively and take advantage of every moment we have to teach in hopes to find someone with the curiousity and humility to actually ask God if what we teach is true. One of my main goals that I have had on the mission is to help every person I meet understand what is UNIQUE about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. You would think this would be a simple task right? There are churches of all sorts Catholics, Protestant, Evangelicals, Jesus Te Quiere, Dios es amor, they are innumerable and all with their private interpretation of the scriptures. The most common belief is that all talk about God, therefore they are all the same. We are very scarcely denied entering a house because to all "whoever brings the word of God is welcome". It is a HUGE upside, because we are able to share the truth wherever we go, and it will be heard. Will it be understood? That´s a whole other story..
A couple examples: A member takes us to her neighbor´s house named Jorge. He is very kind, offers us a seat, and we ask about his family and beliefs, and then we share about how he can find the gospel as Jesus taught it, with no missing pieces or discrepancies. Jorge, are you willing to ask God to know if it´s true? He responds, Yes, I already know it´s true, I have my answer, I accepted Jesus into my life and that´s all I need to do. You said you´re from the United States right? Thanks Jorge.
Another example, we watch the Restoration movie with a recent convert and her dad. After watching the video, he shares how he is moved by the truthfulness of the confusion of the millions of churches, and the need for a Restoration. The end result of this lesson was him saying that he doesn´t need to go with his daughter to Church because he already attends another group much closer to their house.
The church video, interactive examples, homemade puzzles of the church as Jesus Christ called his 12 apostles, giving them the power and authority to act in His name and receive revelation ...and at the end sometimes I am not sure if they are still confused whether I am a Jehovah´s witness or a Mormon.
In a priesthood blessing I received before the mission, I was told that my heart would be broken when people did not accept the plan, but blessed to know that my heart would repair quickly. Recognizing that being ignored or disregarded was always a part of the mission, my companion and I came up with a phrase, "we may not have found any prepared people, but we sure prepared a lot of people". Maybe next time God offers them the truth they will recognize it.
I continually turned my frustration to the Lord, setting new goals and trying to apply what Dallin H Oaks taught when he visited our mission in November (oops ya that also happened, I was sitting in the first row!) that our personal goals should not be dependent on the agency of other people. I prayed for a long time asking to send us to someone who was willing to open their ears. "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you" (3 Nephi 18:20) The promise is clear, whatever righteous desire will be granted. Timing always depends on what God sees fit for our spiritual progress, but if it is right, it will be granted.
There was also the week of transfers, and it was really fun teaching the newbies the basic "10 Health Commandments", things like always using pure water, not eating street food, etc. It´s always fun to interact with new missionaries, pobrecitos they have no idea what they are getting into. Just kidding the mission is the best.
In the past 3 weeks a lot was happening in the Nursing end, but on the working in our area end I was starting to fall into a pit of frustration, oops. With limited time in the area, I feel an extra push to use our time effectively and take advantage of every moment we have to teach in hopes to find someone with the curiousity and humility to actually ask God if what we teach is true. One of my main goals that I have had on the mission is to help every person I meet understand what is UNIQUE about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. You would think this would be a simple task right? There are churches of all sorts Catholics, Protestant, Evangelicals, Jesus Te Quiere, Dios es amor, they are innumerable and all with their private interpretation of the scriptures. The most common belief is that all talk about God, therefore they are all the same. We are very scarcely denied entering a house because to all "whoever brings the word of God is welcome". It is a HUGE upside, because we are able to share the truth wherever we go, and it will be heard. Will it be understood? That´s a whole other story..
A couple examples: A member takes us to her neighbor´s house named Jorge. He is very kind, offers us a seat, and we ask about his family and beliefs, and then we share about how he can find the gospel as Jesus taught it, with no missing pieces or discrepancies. Jorge, are you willing to ask God to know if it´s true? He responds, Yes, I already know it´s true, I have my answer, I accepted Jesus into my life and that´s all I need to do. You said you´re from the United States right? Thanks Jorge.
Another example, we watch the Restoration movie with a recent convert and her dad. After watching the video, he shares how he is moved by the truthfulness of the confusion of the millions of churches, and the need for a Restoration. The end result of this lesson was him saying that he doesn´t need to go with his daughter to Church because he already attends another group much closer to their house.
The church video, interactive examples, homemade puzzles of the church as Jesus Christ called his 12 apostles, giving them the power and authority to act in His name and receive revelation ...and at the end sometimes I am not sure if they are still confused whether I am a Jehovah´s witness or a Mormon.
In a priesthood blessing I received before the mission, I was told that my heart would be broken when people did not accept the plan, but blessed to know that my heart would repair quickly. Recognizing that being ignored or disregarded was always a part of the mission, my companion and I came up with a phrase, "we may not have found any prepared people, but we sure prepared a lot of people". Maybe next time God offers them the truth they will recognize it.
I continually turned my frustration to the Lord, setting new goals and trying to apply what Dallin H Oaks taught when he visited our mission in November (oops ya that also happened, I was sitting in the first row!) that our personal goals should not be dependent on the agency of other people. I prayed for a long time asking to send us to someone who was willing to open their ears. "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you" (3 Nephi 18:20) The promise is clear, whatever righteous desire will be granted. Timing always depends on what God sees fit for our spiritual progress, but if it is right, it will be granted.
New Mission Address!
The New Direction to the Mission Office is:
Col. Palmira Av. Juan Lindo Fte Embajada
App: 556 o 3539
Tegucigalpa M.D.C ; Honduras
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Week 60: Merry Christmas!
Hello!
Christmas on the mission is funny because you get all excited about a 40 minute video call that just ends up being an hour of google call/skype confusion, internet buffering, and if it´s my family 10 people trying to talk to you at once in spanish and english, and it all just being another reminder that all you really wanted was a hug and there´s no chance you´re getting that. I love you guys. I already lived this once last year so this time I decided that I would turn my thoughts to something a little more important...
On Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Savior, but the real question is what does this even mean? What affect on the world did Christ have at His coming, what would the world be like if He never came? If Christ never came, feelings like regret when you know you have messed up big, would have no escape from your conscience. The kinds of feelings like when you wish you could rewind and remove from your life moments of extreme frustration or anger, as seen in the "chew it over with a Twix" commercials. Feelings like when something you want so bad just seems to always be out of your reach could never be calmed.
It is normal, to relate to one or more of these examples. However the regret, the frustration, the dissatisfaction, the lack of purpose, has an end, which end can only be determined by you. When Christ came He made it possible to be free from our natural weaknesses and incapabilities, and made possible the hope for change. He lived, died, and then lived again, opening doors to life after death, giving us a reason to use our time wisely here on Earth. He is a source of strength, relief, stability, and peace. However our access to His strength depends on our willingness to change our current habits and thoughts and consequentially we are allowed the peace of being free from the weight of past decisions and experiences.
Merry Christmas Eve! Love you all!
Also, my companion says Feliz Navidad... enjoy some photos from the Mission Christmas party and my lovely companion <3
Hermana Bernal
Christmas on the mission is funny because you get all excited about a 40 minute video call that just ends up being an hour of google call/skype confusion, internet buffering, and if it´s my family 10 people trying to talk to you at once in spanish and english, and it all just being another reminder that all you really wanted was a hug and there´s no chance you´re getting that. I love you guys. I already lived this once last year so this time I decided that I would turn my thoughts to something a little more important...
On Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Savior, but the real question is what does this even mean? What affect on the world did Christ have at His coming, what would the world be like if He never came? If Christ never came, feelings like regret when you know you have messed up big, would have no escape from your conscience. The kinds of feelings like when you wish you could rewind and remove from your life moments of extreme frustration or anger, as seen in the "chew it over with a Twix" commercials. Feelings like when something you want so bad just seems to always be out of your reach could never be calmed.
If Christ never came, the mind battle of just wanting to be happy when the satisfaction never seems to last would have no end. There would be a lack of purpose in what we do, I mean why work so hard to have a good life if WWIII is already coming up and we´ll all soon be turned to dust?
It is normal, to relate to one or more of these examples. However the regret, the frustration, the dissatisfaction, the lack of purpose, has an end, which end can only be determined by you. When Christ came He made it possible to be free from our natural weaknesses and incapabilities, and made possible the hope for change. He lived, died, and then lived again, opening doors to life after death, giving us a reason to use our time wisely here on Earth. He is a source of strength, relief, stability, and peace. However our access to His strength depends on our willingness to change our current habits and thoughts and consequentially we are allowed the peace of being free from the weight of past decisions and experiences.
This Christmas you´re invited to celebrate as if Christ really did come to Earth, take a moment to see what it is in your life that might be worth letting go of, and enjoy the hope of a brighter future full of better choices.
Merry Christmas Eve! Love you all!
Also, my companion says Feliz Navidad... enjoy some photos from the Mission Christmas party and my lovely companion <3
Hermana Bernal
Monday, December 12, 2016
Week 59: Light the World
Hi!
It´s been a great week, and my new companion is really sweet, her name is Hermana Nuñez and she is also from Mexico! To get into the Christmas spirit a little bit we have been sharing these two short videos that are really awesome- watch them both!
This is the Church´s link to the video "Lighting the World" https://www.mormon.org/spa/navidad/ilumina-el-mundo
Love,
Hermana Bernal
Also here are a couple of photos from the day of transfers!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Week 58: A Broken Heart & Contrite Spirit
HI FAM AND FRIENDS,
This week was a fun week, we have recently been teaching this young teanager girl named Areli, and she has a heart of gold. Her learning rate is super slow, every concept that we teach about the gospel takes about 10 minutes for her to understand; but one thing that I have learned from Areli is what God means when he asks for "a broken heart and a contrite spirit". Since the day we started teaching Areli, she has showed up by herself to every church meeting and activity, and has anxiously been praying to know if what we teach is true. She has even started inviting her friends to get more involved in some of the service activities. Any good thing that she is asked to do, she does it. It just made me realize how it doesn't matter how much we know or understand, to be able to live with God again we must be able to live the basic principle of obedience. By no means does that mean that learning is unimportant. The glory of God is intelligence, and all the knowledge that we obtain in this life we can take with us after, but Areli has been example to me of what truly is a willing heart.
Have a great week!
Hermana Bernal
Friday, November 25, 2016
Week 57: "I'm going to be a mission nurse!"
I missed a week on October..probably because I was so exciting that Izzy was going to be a mission nurse. Here is Hermana Bernal's e-mail. -Adrianna
The past couple of weeks have been a wild ride. A couple special moments that have been very special to me these past couple of dayzzz...
We were teaching the parents of a little girl who was baptized, the Mom`s name is Alma, and up until receiving us had not had any experience with any church or anything. We left the pamphlet for them to read about the Restoration of the gospel, but we just left the first page as her little homework for the next visit. When we came back, we asked her what she thought, and she responded saying, "My favorite part is when it says... then skimming the page again she read "God is our loving Heavenly Father, He knows each one of us individually". It was as if she was reading a new scientific discovery, something she didn`t understand before and then all of a sudden it just clicked. It made me remember the small moments when I have felt that way, when I have just known for sure that God knows me personally and cares about who I am. Something so simple and something I often take for granted, it was a treat seeing somebody discover it for the first time.
In another occasion we taught this OLD OLD man named Asuncion, he is 80 years old, and we thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to another old man who is a member so that they can be cute old friends. It was another cool experience to hear Raul`s (the member of the church) testimony and wisdom from his 88 years of living. One thing that stuck with me from what he said was that the two most important things in life are to 1. Repent from ALL the bad that we do, no matter how big or small the mistakes are, if we change our ways we can become completely clean, and ultimately free. 2. We must ALWAYS forgive, even when other people have just been the worst to us, even when we have done nothing, when we forgive and PRAY for the people who have offended us, those feelings of anger and frustration are converted into peace. Cool huh? It sounded cooler coming from an 88 year old man, sorry guys.
This week was a really hard week. We talked to a lot of people, we visited a lot of members, we contacted a lot of references, and.... nothing was to be found. Even a member that we thought was super on it with going out on visits with us hadn`t been to church in three weeks. In Sacrament meeting I just felt super super low. But as the tray of bread passed by me, I looked up and saw that the young man that had passed it to me was an inactive that we had been visiting, and in that moment I just was hit with the feeling that even though I hadn`t felt like my energy was helping anyone, it helped someone. At least one joven.
Today we received cambios, and even though I have only had 6 weeks here, I have changes! I am going to be companions with the Mission doctor, so I will be a missionary nurse. I`m excited to learn a lot, I`m hoping my one year of nutrition will do some good. WOOHOO ALL OF THE MISSION TEGUCIGALPA IS GOING ON A DIET!
Have a great week!
Hermana Bernal
The past couple of weeks have been a wild ride. A couple special moments that have been very special to me these past couple of dayzzz...
We were teaching the parents of a little girl who was baptized, the Mom`s name is Alma, and up until receiving us had not had any experience with any church or anything. We left the pamphlet for them to read about the Restoration of the gospel, but we just left the first page as her little homework for the next visit. When we came back, we asked her what she thought, and she responded saying, "My favorite part is when it says... then skimming the page again she read "God is our loving Heavenly Father, He knows each one of us individually". It was as if she was reading a new scientific discovery, something she didn`t understand before and then all of a sudden it just clicked. It made me remember the small moments when I have felt that way, when I have just known for sure that God knows me personally and cares about who I am. Something so simple and something I often take for granted, it was a treat seeing somebody discover it for the first time.
In another occasion we taught this OLD OLD man named Asuncion, he is 80 years old, and we thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to another old man who is a member so that they can be cute old friends. It was another cool experience to hear Raul`s (the member of the church) testimony and wisdom from his 88 years of living. One thing that stuck with me from what he said was that the two most important things in life are to 1. Repent from ALL the bad that we do, no matter how big or small the mistakes are, if we change our ways we can become completely clean, and ultimately free. 2. We must ALWAYS forgive, even when other people have just been the worst to us, even when we have done nothing, when we forgive and PRAY for the people who have offended us, those feelings of anger and frustration are converted into peace. Cool huh? It sounded cooler coming from an 88 year old man, sorry guys.
This week was a really hard week. We talked to a lot of people, we visited a lot of members, we contacted a lot of references, and.... nothing was to be found. Even a member that we thought was super on it with going out on visits with us hadn`t been to church in three weeks. In Sacrament meeting I just felt super super low. But as the tray of bread passed by me, I looked up and saw that the young man that had passed it to me was an inactive that we had been visiting, and in that moment I just was hit with the feeling that even though I hadn`t felt like my energy was helping anyone, it helped someone. At least one joven.
Today we received cambios, and even though I have only had 6 weeks here, I have changes! I am going to be companions with the Mission doctor, so I will be a missionary nurse. I`m excited to learn a lot, I`m hoping my one year of nutrition will do some good. WOOHOO ALL OF THE MISSION TEGUCIGALPA IS GOING ON A DIET!
Have a great week!
Hermana Bernal
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Week 56: Back to Tegucigalpa!
Hi family!
I don´t have too much time to write today but just a couple of details to get you caught up on what´s been going on with me the past couple of weeks:
-I am now actually in Tegucigalpa Honduras, our schedule of going back to our house has changed to be more safe, we usually have a member to walk us home.
-Going from Southern Honduras where it is hot and sun all day, to the city where it is cold and more like Seattle weather, has caused my feet to shrink a full shoe size! I was confused before in the south when I thought my feet had grown, but they were just swollen, ha. Now we´re all back to my normal size 3 in kids no worries people!
-As the mission nurses I realize how lucky I am to have not gotten sick once in my whole mission. Sicknesses like Zika, Dengue, and Chikingua are all really common because of the mosquitos and bacteria or parasites are common when sometimes missionaries are too nice to reject water that isn´t purified. We help with the distribution of medication and guide them what to do with some symptoms.
-In the South the cold shower water was actually really refreshing, but now we heat up our water just boiling it on the stove, most missionaries just handle the cold but its worth it for us to have hot pot water :)
Here are also some pictures from these weeks!
I don´t have too much time to write today but just a couple of details to get you caught up on what´s been going on with me the past couple of weeks:
-I am now actually in Tegucigalpa Honduras, our schedule of going back to our house has changed to be more safe, we usually have a member to walk us home.
-Going from Southern Honduras where it is hot and sun all day, to the city where it is cold and more like Seattle weather, has caused my feet to shrink a full shoe size! I was confused before in the south when I thought my feet had grown, but they were just swollen, ha. Now we´re all back to my normal size 3 in kids no worries people!
-As the mission nurses I realize how lucky I am to have not gotten sick once in my whole mission. Sicknesses like Zika, Dengue, and Chikingua are all really common because of the mosquitos and bacteria or parasites are common when sometimes missionaries are too nice to reject water that isn´t purified. We help with the distribution of medication and guide them what to do with some symptoms.
-In the South the cold shower water was actually really refreshing, but now we heat up our water just boiling it on the stove, most missionaries just handle the cold but its worth it for us to have hot pot water :)
Here are also some pictures from these weeks!
Monday, November 7, 2016
Week 55: "The love of God inspires us to be better people"
Hello!
My Preparation day has been changed to Saturdays, so now I will be emailing on Saturdays!
These past two weeks have been super crazy. The mission call of my companion Hermana Lara says that she will serve as a full time missionary- part time proselyting and part time in charge of the missionaries' health. As her companion, we receive calls from sick missionaries, we give them prescriptions, we go with them to doctor appointments, and we travel to different meetings giving health presentations to help them take better care of themselves. The funny thing is she is going home in December, so these weeks have been crazy learning the whole nurse drill as well as learning the area. But, it is so so fun.
Every time I have a companion that is going home, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on how much I have changed since I started the mission. I used to think that being humble only meant that you avoided recognition, so much that it stopped me from doing good works and I tended to judge people for their desires to do "big things". I used to think that avoiding conflict was more important than speaking my opinion, so much that I didn't defend even people I cared about. I used to think that being accepting of others meant withholding my ideas of how they could improve. I used to withhold from explaining clearly tough things that I was going through, but I've realized that the faster we recognize our weaknesses, the faster we can get a move on making them better. For example, when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, He, though being perfect, didn't judge her but DID tell her to change. Something important to note is that Christ didn't say, "It's okay to sin, carry on", which for me is a true example of unconditional love. The love of God is so big, it inspires us to be better people, it gives us a reason to change ourselves, to be better at self-monitoring. However, sometimes we don't realize certain things we need to change, we need someone to tell us with love STOP. Learning to receive this kind of correction as well as learning to give it, requires a BIG effort to do as Jesus did when he said, "Neither do I condemn thee, now go and sin no more". I am grateful for Christ's examples of humility and love found in the scriptures, because learning from other sources sometimes leads to confusion. Humility is not just avoiding recognition, conflict, or disagreements, it's accepting the fact that Christ expects us to start from where we are right now and to change to become more like Him.
Good luck this week in elections :)
Hermana Bernal
My Preparation day has been changed to Saturdays, so now I will be emailing on Saturdays!
These past two weeks have been super crazy. The mission call of my companion Hermana Lara says that she will serve as a full time missionary- part time proselyting and part time in charge of the missionaries' health. As her companion, we receive calls from sick missionaries, we give them prescriptions, we go with them to doctor appointments, and we travel to different meetings giving health presentations to help them take better care of themselves. The funny thing is she is going home in December, so these weeks have been crazy learning the whole nurse drill as well as learning the area. But, it is so so fun.
Every time I have a companion that is going home, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on how much I have changed since I started the mission. I used to think that being humble only meant that you avoided recognition, so much that it stopped me from doing good works and I tended to judge people for their desires to do "big things". I used to think that avoiding conflict was more important than speaking my opinion, so much that I didn't defend even people I cared about. I used to think that being accepting of others meant withholding my ideas of how they could improve. I used to withhold from explaining clearly tough things that I was going through, but I've realized that the faster we recognize our weaknesses, the faster we can get a move on making them better. For example, when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, He, though being perfect, didn't judge her but DID tell her to change. Something important to note is that Christ didn't say, "It's okay to sin, carry on", which for me is a true example of unconditional love. The love of God is so big, it inspires us to be better people, it gives us a reason to change ourselves, to be better at self-monitoring. However, sometimes we don't realize certain things we need to change, we need someone to tell us with love STOP. Learning to receive this kind of correction as well as learning to give it, requires a BIG effort to do as Jesus did when he said, "Neither do I condemn thee, now go and sin no more". I am grateful for Christ's examples of humility and love found in the scriptures, because learning from other sources sometimes leads to confusion. Humility is not just avoiding recognition, conflict, or disagreements, it's accepting the fact that Christ expects us to start from where we are right now and to change to become more like Him.
Good luck this week in elections :)
Hermana Bernal
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Week: 54: General Conference is like Christmas!
Hi Everyone!
My brother Garret in an email told me that on his mission it really felt like Christmas on General Conference this weekend. That is true!
I figured no one wants to read another novel, so I decided to leave you the links to the very talks themselves. From what I understood of the talks, each speaker answered at least one question concerning our relationship to God. The following questions are not the titles of the talks, rather I made the questions so that you could select according to your own personal interest.
P.S. My personal favorite was the one that is under "Am I Good Enough? Am I acceptable to God?"
Who Am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_3/5150993228001?lang=eng
How can the teachings of Jesus Christ bless my family?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_5/5151000093001?lang=eng
What is Prayer?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_6/5151025884001?lang=eng
Who is Joseph Smith? Why do we care?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_8/5151305274001?lang=eng
How can I feel a more personal connection to God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_9/5151035179001?lang=eng
Am I good enough? Am I acceptable to God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_10/5151035222001?lang=eng
How can my guilt from not being a super-mega-member missionary turn into faith and hope?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_12/5151072745001?lang=eng
What stumbling blocks might be stopping me from having a testimony of Christ?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_4/5151163688001?lang=eng
What is the importance of the Book of Mormon?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_5/5151163687001?lang=eng
What is God's love? What is the balance between justice and mercy?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_7/5151170411001?lang=eng
How can I understand more about God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_8/5151166800001?lang=eng
How can I have patience in trials?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_9/5151237405001?lang=eng
How can I be more satisfied with my efforts to share the gospel?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_11/5151240426001?lang=eng
SUNDAY TALKS
THE PROPHET SPEAKS
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_3/5151849353001?lang=eng
How can I have joy?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_4/5151884835001?lang=eng
How can I make the sacrament a weekly spiritual checkpoint rather than a Sunday routine?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_6/5151884839001?lang=eng
How can I be confident with my standing to the Lord?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_7/5151885511001?lang=eng
Where can I go to stay on the path?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_9/5151870518001?lang=eng
What does it mean to worship God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_10/5151885512001?lang=eng
What is righteous judgement? How can judging like Christ, help me parent my kids?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_11/5151884859001?lang=eng
How can I be more thankful?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_13/5151903031001?lang=eng
How can I really get to know God, instead of just "knowing about God"?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_3/5152032337001?lang=eng
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_4/5152041108001?lang=eng
Why should I expand my church calling regardless of what it is?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_5/5152056857001?lang=eng
What can we do when we are ready to throw in the towel and give up?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_7/5152056848001?lang=eng
Why do bad things happen to good people?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_8/5152056834001?lang=eng
What is the price, and what is the reward, of helping our children understand the gospel?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_9/5152056858001?lang=eng
How can I turn pain and regret from past experiences into peace and relief?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_11/5152078688001?lang=eng
Love,
Hermana Bernal
My brother Garret in an email told me that on his mission it really felt like Christmas on General Conference this weekend. That is true!
I figured no one wants to read another novel, so I decided to leave you the links to the very talks themselves. From what I understood of the talks, each speaker answered at least one question concerning our relationship to God. The following questions are not the titles of the talks, rather I made the questions so that you could select according to your own personal interest.
P.S. My personal favorite was the one that is under "Am I Good Enough? Am I acceptable to God?"
Who Am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_3/5150993228001?lang=eng
How can the teachings of Jesus Christ bless my family?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_5/5151000093001?lang=eng
What is Prayer?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_6/5151025884001?lang=eng
Who is Joseph Smith? Why do we care?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_8/5151305274001?lang=eng
How can I feel a more personal connection to God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_9/5151035179001?lang=eng
Am I good enough? Am I acceptable to God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_10/5151035222001?lang=eng
How can my guilt from not being a super-mega-member missionary turn into faith and hope?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_1_talk_12/5151072745001?lang=eng
What stumbling blocks might be stopping me from having a testimony of Christ?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_4/5151163688001?lang=eng
What is the importance of the Book of Mormon?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_5/5151163687001?lang=eng
What is God's love? What is the balance between justice and mercy?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_7/5151170411001?lang=eng
How can I understand more about God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_8/5151166800001?lang=eng
How can I have patience in trials?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_9/5151237405001?lang=eng
How can I be more satisfied with my efforts to share the gospel?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_2_talk_11/5151240426001?lang=eng
SUNDAY TALKS
THE PROPHET SPEAKS
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_3/5151849353001?lang=eng
How can I have joy?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_4/5151884835001?lang=eng
How can I make the sacrament a weekly spiritual checkpoint rather than a Sunday routine?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_6/5151884839001?lang=eng
How can I be confident with my standing to the Lord?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_7/5151885511001?lang=eng
Where can I go to stay on the path?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_9/5151870518001?lang=eng
What does it mean to worship God?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_10/5151885512001?lang=eng
What is righteous judgement? How can judging like Christ, help me parent my kids?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_11/5151884859001?lang=eng
How can I be more thankful?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_13/5151903031001?lang=eng
How can I really get to know God, instead of just "knowing about God"?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_3/5152032337001?lang=eng
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_4/5152041108001?lang=eng
Why should I expand my church calling regardless of what it is?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_5/5152056857001?lang=eng
What can we do when we are ready to throw in the towel and give up?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_7/5152056848001?lang=eng
Why do bad things happen to good people?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_8/5152056834001?lang=eng
What is the price, and what is the reward, of helping our children understand the gospel?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_9/5152056858001?lang=eng
How can I turn pain and regret from past experiences into peace and relief?
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_5_talk_11/5152078688001?lang=eng
Love,
Hermana Bernal
Week 53: Women's General Conference
This week was especially great because of the General Women´s Conference that was transmitted to the whole world in all different languages! Something that really got me thinking was a story that Elder Uhtdorf mentioned- A little girl is walking, enjoying the beautiful sound of a bird´s hum, when she excitedly tells her grandma, ¨Listen! Listen" , without understanding that her grandmother can´t hear, becasuse she is deaf. After being told that "grandmother can´t hear very well", she gets up close to her grandmother´s face and says, "Listen harder!!". As silly as it sounds, Elder Uchtdorf reminds us that not being able to hear, does not mean that there is nothing to listen to.
This Saturday and Sunday in the morning and afternoon we get to hear General Conference, when all the face of the Earth is invited to hear a prophet of God (and many other inspired leaders- men and women) But I would like to touch briefly (haha no not briefly, this email turned out to be really long) on the question, Why prophets?
In the book of Amos in the Old Testament, God revealed to the prophet Amos "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets". What does this mean? That God will do NOTHING without before telling His "secrets" to his prophets. What are His secrets?
Around 4000 B.C. God revealed to Noah that there was a BIG storm coming.. one that would even flood the Earth, but because in those days it barely rained, nobody except his family listened, and a bunch of wise animals that got on His ark. For me that is a pretty big secret, a foretelling of the future. The prophet Noah promised that all who got on the ark would be saved, but the people were free to choose for themselves.
Another example is Moses. A famous one for his big tablets he had when God revealed to him the 10 commandments, and we know he talked with God face to face (Exodus 33:11). We know that just like God promised blessings to the family of Noah on the ark for being obedient, there are promised blessings for obeying the commandments revealed to Moses.
But why does God call a prophet? The same reason a coach has a captain for His team. Just like the Soccer Coach can´t play on the field with his players, God uses the captain of the team (all the rest of us are the players) to keep the game plan in order, because obviously it gets pretty awkward and there is a lot of confusion if some players are not in agreement with what the coach has explained is the plan.
Jesus Christ came to clear up all confusion- "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but the fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). or when He also explained to the people in the Americas "Behold I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets have testified shall come into the world" (3 Nephi 11:10). From the beginning the prophets explained a Savior would come the world, and He did. And just as they exaplined He would be rejected and crucified, He was. Luckily the Bible was preserved to give us access to many of "God´s secrets" from the beginnning to years after Christ´s death. But Christ came over 2000 YEARS AGO. That´s a long, long, time. What has happened in those 2000 years? Is all crystal-clear as it was 2000 years ago? Is everyone still on the same page about who is God, if He´s a spirit, a being of flesh and bone, is He, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost all one or are they 3 separate? Have the differences in climate, technology advances, home and family issues of the world today caused a change in the "game plan"? If so, what´s the coach saying to the captain? or was God just kidding when He said "Surely the God will do NOTHING but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets". What kind of future events might we need to be prepared for that we aren´t currently prepared for?
An example. When I was living in Marcovia in Honduras, I lived in a colonia called "Renacer" (reborn), right next to "CARE", "Los Españoles", "La Paz", and "Cruz Roja". Around 20 years ago Hurricane Mitch had swept away homes and families. Shortly before that, Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet at the time spoke in General Conference about the necessity of Home Food Storage. Those who followed that counsel here, were saved.
Before my misson someone asked me, "Do you follow the teachings of Joseph Smith?". To that I responded, "I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ". I feel it injust to talk about prophets of today without explaining a little bit about Joseph Smith. He lived in 1820 and as his age increased, so did the number of existing churches. The conflicts of doctrine were puzzling as he read in the Bible that "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). But with more churches than McDonalds on the Earth how could it be possible? Could God have multiple doctrines?
Joseph Smith took it upon himself to investigate further, and after reading in James 1:5 he learnedv that if anyone has a question for God, and is willing to ask in faith, God will respond, and will respond liberally!!
When Joseph Smith asked in prayer which of the existing churches was true, He didn´t get an answer from his mom, from his friend, from his pastor, God responded. God, with Jesus Christ on His right side appeared to him and began to explain the game plan that had gotten so confused over 2000 years.
A question I have pondered a lot on my mission is why Joseph Smith? Why did God have to appear to him when Christianity already existed? When we already had the Bible? The easy answer is- because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He called prophets from the beginning, so of course He will call a prophet to make the next move. But another answer that has helped me understand is found in 2 Peter 1:20-21. When the Apostle Peter has just explained that he was an eyewitness of the moment when God from Heaven said "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". In verses 20-21 he explains that "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost". Up until Joseph Smith was called as a ´prophet, the people were left alone as far as interpretation of the scriptures. Without an eyewitness, someone who can speak face to face with God like Noah, like Moses, like Peter, the Bible was left to private interpretation.
Do we Mormons "believe in Joseph Smith"? We believe he was a prophet of God, but his purpose and the purpose of each prophet since then has been to help us be better believers in Jesus Christ. Prophets are not perfect people, because they are not Gods, they are humans- they make mistakes. We cannot base our faith on the faithfulness of other people. I feel a little sliver of their pain when I feel the frustration of hearing about someone who has stopped going to church because of a mistake or comment a missionary has made. I feel a fraction of a sliver of the dissapointment of rejection when someone (this week) ripped a pass along card of Jesus Christ yelling, "BUSQUEN A DIOS BUSQUEN A DIOS, NO A JOSE SMITH" (look for God, look for God, not for Jose Smith). I can´t imagine that it would be like to fulfill the task of not making one mistake, and receiving all the rejection Christ encountered. I´m grateful for a family who followed the prophet´s counsel of nightly family prayers, family scripture study, weekly family night. I am so eternally grateful to see the examples of my parents who offered me a safe home, who taught me the game plan as crystal clear as they could, to what the coach has revealed to His captain. I´m doing my best to be updated on what the challenges foreseen are today, and I invite you to listen carefully to what ways God has updated His game plan to his servants.
I love you all! IT WAS ALSO SO EXCITING TO SEE LINDY ELGGREN IN THE MTC CHOIR AHH!!!!! LINDY YOU ROCK
Till next week!
Also, here´s a bunch of pictures!! the couple in pajamas are Ivis and Josue! and the last two pictures are of my new companion and I, Hermana Gomez and us when we went to the beach today! Woo!
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