Showing posts with label lds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lds. Show all posts

Attitude Changes Everything

Posted on 8:29 AM by Elder Bergloff


Anyone who knows me knows that I am kind of a pessimist. Meaning that I don’t always look at the bright side of things, it’s pretty hard for me to look out my window and see rain and not be upset. On the other hand I have had many friends who are able to look at the bright side of things and when they see rain they think of the blessing that it is for us not to be in a drought.
Throughout these experiences in my life I sometimes just look at them, and in my mind I say, “Really.” You really think that?
As a missionary I have been grateful to meet so many wonderful people who have been able to teach me, through their example, about how attitude changes everything.
On December 22, 2011 Elder Bessey and I were driving to an appointment to one of the members homes of our congregation. On our way there we got a call from our Mission President informing us that we were going to be training a new missionary who would be part of our companionship. This missionary was going to be waiting for his visa and wouldn’t be here in the Pennsylvania area indefinitely.
After getting off the phone with the Mission President I started to think of all the problems this was going to create. What if this missionary didn’t want to be here and he was dragging his feet everywhere, what if he didn’t like the people we were teaching, and on and on I thought of these problems.
Then one week later me and Elder Bessey piled into the car and began our drive to the Mission Home to pick up the new missionary.

The new missionaries name was Elder Siebert. Elder Siebert is from Orem, Utah and was first assigned to go to Taiwan where he would speak Mandarin Chinese.
Elder Siebert was waiting for all of his paperwork to go through so that he could go to his mission in Taiwan.
Well my pessimistic thoughts were pretty much all wrong. Not only was Elder Siebert happy to be here, but felt that God had a work for him to do here in Philadelphia and that he would stay here for as long as the Lord wanted him to. He emulated the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants section 51:
        16. And I consecrate unto them this land for a little season, until I, the Lord, shall provide for them otherwise, and command them to go hence;
     17. And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good.
He truly treats every day like he is going to be here a year. Like I said at the beginning attitude truly changes everything. As his attitude was positive and happy, even though he wasn’t serving in the mission he was called, the Lord blessed him to love those he taught and to feel inner joy and peace in his circumstances.
Attitude changes everything. Even when we are in the worst of circumstances, if we look at life with positive eyes those circumstances suddenly become a whole lot better.

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Why I Believe What I Believe

Posted on 10:51 AM by Elder Bergloff

What do I believe might be the better question for some?
Well I believe that the church that Jesus Christ established while He was here on the Earth was lost, that through a modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, it was restored to the Earth.
I believe that this is Christ's church. His only true and living church found on the face of the planet.
Bold huh?
Some might ask why do you believe this? And then I am given a list of concerns as to why I shouldn't.
I believe this; in fact I know this for many reasons.
One, it makes sense. If anyone takes the time to learn about this church then they realize just how much sense it makes. Daily I will be reading some piece of doctrine and I just look up and think just how much sense this makes.

Two, I have seen the blessings that come from living this gospel. I love my family. They are the most important people in my life. My family is not without our struggles though. Often times our family goes through great struggles whether it is financial, spiritual, physical, or personal challenges. There have been times when I was growing up that I didn’t think that our family was going to make it through that trial that we were going through. But we did. I felt Gods hand in my family’s life. Through all our trials we kept our faith, we prayed, we went to church, we read the scriptures, and because of the gospel that we lived, we were blessed.

Three, I believe in the Holy Spirit of God and that it can confirm truth to me. I grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was raised to believe in these things, but just like it is with any religion, there comes a day when you have to choose to continue following or go down a different path. To be honest I didn’t make this decision until about 18 months ago. The problem I faced at the time was that I was being asked to teach people about this church. Well it’s hard to teach people what you don’t full heartedly believe yourself. So I started praying, I started to really ponder what I was learning and teaching. Then one day I had a meeting with a few other missionaries, and we began to practice reciting “The First Vision.” “The First Vision” is Joseph Smith, the prophets, vision where, as he was praying, he says God and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith later records, in his own words, what actually happened.
In Joseph’s own words he says:
 

16 …I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the dsun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
  17 …When the light rested upon me I bsaw two cPersonages, whose brightness and dglory defy all description, estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My fBeloved gSon. Hear Him!

 This was what I and the other missionaries were reciting. One missionary pulled me aside and asked if he could recite it to me. As he began to recite this a feeling of such peace and happiness filled every fiber of my being to the point that I couldn’t hold the tears back. I felt it in my heart and in my mind that this really did happen. It wasn’t just a good story or an interesting experience, but it was a fact. It was true and just as Joseph Smith said, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it and I cannot deny it.

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Stand Up For What You Believe

Posted on 10:27 AM by Elder Bergloff

Why do we stand up for what we believe? Well that's obvious, because we believe in it. However, some of us forsake our beliefs when others attack them or try to disprove them. As a missionary I've been able to see this more then anything. That my beliefs and what I hold dear are attacked almost daily. Many people don't believe or understand what we teach, and therefore they immedietly disbelieve in it.
 If fact just the other day me and my missionary companion, Elder Lake, were walking in Philadelphia when we ran into a gentleman who was walking towards us on the street. We began conversing with him about God and His church. The man had spoken with missionaries from our church before and so he immedietly begins to tell us why he feels our church is incorrect.

Some of the hardest times for me to remain patient is when people try to disprove my beliefs. Because to me they are not beliefs, they are facts given to me through the Holy Spirit from God. I have a knowledge of these things, not just simple beliefs.
We ended our conversation by agreeing to disagree. Neither party was willing to believe in what the other shared.
At the time this was really frustrating to me. I really wanted him to understand my beliefs. Afterwards, however, I spent a lot of time thinking about how we all have our own beliefs and our own choices to make in life. I am choosing to follow Jesus Christ and choose to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I would love everyone to be as well, but I know that everyone has that choice.
I stand up for what I know. It is because of that knowledge that I stand up for  this Gospel. It’s true, and each time I pray about it I get that burning sense in my stomach, which isn’t acid-reflux, that confirms to me that this church, this gospel is Christ’s gospel.

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My Life In The Trenches

Posted on 11:02 AM by Elder Bergloff


What do I mean by "My life in the Trenches?" Well for the past 18 months of my mission I've been able to spend a lot of time in inner-city Philadelphia.
My family more then anyone has asked me, "What's it like." Well coming from suburbia in Idaho it's a lot different. Where electricity, running water, and heat were necessities; appear to be commodities out here. A huge culture shock, but has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Living here in Philly I am able to meet people who are the most loving and giving people in the most urban and poor conditions. I've really gained an appreciation for the things that I have.
I love humility. It's probably one of the hardest qualities to obtain though. Christ is my ultimate example. How he could allow himself to be beaten and nailed to the cross is unimaginable to me.
As I spend my time here in Philly I have met lots of people who have developed that Christ-like attribute of humility. Giving, caring, hard-working, loving, willing to help and give of all their substance; these are qualities that I have learned come from those who are truly humble. As a missionary I have met many people who have nothing, but have developed this great humility towards others.
The other day I was reading in the Book of Mormon about a prophet named Alma. He goes and teaches a people called the Zoramites. However, he finds that they are proud in their hearts and are not willing to listen to his message. He then comes across the poorer class of people and begins to teach them.
In Alma chapter 31 it reads:

"1 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets.
  2 And it came to pass that after much labor among them, they began to have success among the apoor class of people; for behold, they were cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel—
  3 Therefore they were not permitted to enter into their synagogues to worship God, being esteemed as filthiness; therefore they were poor; yea, they were esteemed by their brethren as adross; therefore they were bpoor as to things of the world; and also they were poor in heart.
  4 Now, as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill aOnidah, there came a great bmultitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking, of whom were cpoor in heart, because of their poverty as to the things of the world.
  5 And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, awhat shall these my brethren do, for they are bdespised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have ccast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have dno place to worship our God; and behold, ewhat shall we do?
  6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their aafflictions had truly bhumbled them, and that they were in a cpreparation to hear the word."

I love these verses. I’ve learned at what a blessing it can be to not have everything, and to have to struggle in this life. Like these people struggled, the people I visit in Philly struggle to, and because of their situations they are humbled and are able to receive the word.
I am grateful for humility, and to learn humility from my brothers and sisters here in Philadelphia.

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