THE BERG #24

hello family! 

#1 sister lenhart and i will be staying together for my last couple weeks!! THANK THE DAYLIGHTS! 

ok...now that we've settled that....this week was glorious!!! it all started with an interfaith thanksgiving celebration we had the privilege of going to! it was sooo fun to come together and worship with catholics, methodist, hindu, lutheran, jewish, etc. believers! id be lying if i didnt say i shed a tear or seven  million!!!!! the spirit was just happy and it was awesome to see God's children come together and thank/praise him :) religion may divide us, but we are all sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father!!

i thought that devotional would be the highlight of the week...but then WEDNESDAY HAPPENED!!!! so yall remember Mandi right? angel of a human that we have been teaching for a while now..she is the one that watched all of general conference and comes to church etc....well last sunday she came to church and asked for a blessing...a blessing to get divine help in receiving an answer in regards to her baptism....we were more than happy to set that up!! ;) our 1st counselor and SPIRITUAL GIANT of a man did an amazing job talking/counseling with her before the blessing and then giving her powerful advice DIRECTLY from the Lord. at one point before the blessing though mandi did bring up the fact that i go home soon and that she knows thats why i want her to be baptized......it caught me a little off guard. 1 becuase i keep forgetting my time as a full-time missionary is coming to a close and 2 because that thought hadnt crossed my mind...i couldnt forget her comment though so i decided to take it to the Lord...i doubted a little my motives for wanting her to be baptized. "do i really just want to make it happen before i leave? does God want her baptized NOW or can she wait a little longer? i mean why not give her more time to think and pray?" i pondered these questions in my heart as i went to bed tuesday evening and as i started my study wednesday morning....as i opened the scriptures to Alma 34 (where i had been reading consecutively) i was SHOCKED by the direct answer to prayer that i received.....Alma 34: 30 "And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring fruit unto repentance.

31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you." NOW IS THE TIME. those words hit me like a ton of BRICKS and made me GIDDY for the lesson we were about to have with mandi because i KNEW that this was God's will for her--not mine! AND HOW CAN YOU DENY THE LORD?!?!?! 

so we went in and began to teach her and testify and invite.....sister lenhart started crying the second we stepped foot in her apartment because she had the spirit witness to her that mandi would decide to be baptized! but it wasnt a quick thing..mandi has fears and doubts that are all reasonable and understandable..but we boldy testified of trust in our Lord and faith and so on....when we first invited her to be baptised she responded 

"i dont know" 

to which i asked "you dont know? or you are scared?" 

"im scared." 

"do you trust God?"

"yes."

"do you know he loves you?"

"yes."

"do you know he wants what's best for you?"

"yes."

"do you know he wants you to be baptized?"

".....yes."

"will you be baptized?"

"YES!" 

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we literally bursted into tears and had a little dance party of pure joy in her cute little apartment!!!!! she is going to be the most AMAZING member and is already planning packages she will send to her boys when they serve missions!!! (they are 6 and 7 years old ;) haha) 

AND THE WEEK JUST KEPT GETTING BETTER!!! 

--three thanksgiving meals

--departing temple trip

--new investigators accepting christ and baptisms

THERE IS NO BETTER WORK IN THE WORLD I TELL YOU WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and no better time to share it! if you havent already, go onto christmas.mormon.org and watch the video and then show/share/tell it to EVERYONE AND THEIR DOG because it is AMAZING!!! A SAVIOR IS BORN YALL!! AND WE ARE SOOOO BLESSED BECAUSE OF IT!

have a blessed week!! ;) 

xoxo

hna hull

ps president J U S T called! sister lenhart and i are TRAINING!!! together! im STOKED FOR ANOTHER NEWBIE!!!!!!!!!

lovely pakistani ladys we met at the interfaith thing <3

departing temple trip!

THIS LITTLE GIRL <3 <3 <3

THE BERG #23

Cutest country homes!

hola hola hola family and friends!!! dont have mucho time, but i want to share a quote that really made me stop and think about my discipleship.....

here it is "Believe and be saved the preacher said, Believe and be saved and rise from the dead. After the sermon the Preacher went home, humble mercedes, all covered in chrome. he went to study with his thoughts running deep, he dozed for a moment, then died in his sleep. he went to st peter and said with a grin 'i believe in Jesus, so let me in' 'oh no, not another' said st pete with a sigh, 'satan's working hard and his toll's running high. to believe in the Master you must do what he says, for faith without works is nothing but dead. for the devil knows Jesus and believes in him too, so what is the difference between the devil and you??'"

when a sister shared that with me while on exchanges in her area i really stopped to think...am i just believing..."sitting, waiting wishing" but not acting? am i using this amazing body my heavenly father has given me to get up and MAKE STUFF HAPPEN?!?! this thanksgiving i am thankful for my beliefs...but more importantly i am thankful for the gospel of jesus christ which inspires me to ACT. i love finding out and DOING what my Lord asks of me. it is AMAZING!!! and i dont know about yall...but i dont want to be able to be compared to satan in the slightest of ways!!!! haha 

sorry this was blunt and brief! but know that i love yall and am super thankful to have yall in my life! 

peace and blessings, 

hna hull

the district

the district

my little mandolin!! <3 love when mandi comes to church! 

adventuring in trailer parks....LOVE THEM

WELCOME HERMANA HULL HOME!

We are thrilled to welcome home Hermana Emily Hull on December 18th!! 

Please join us for her Homecoming Talk in the Folsom 5th Ward on Sunday, Dec. 27th @11:30am, in the Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 

89 Scholar Way

Folsom, Ca. 95630

THE BERG #22

16! 

let me tell yall about my recent convert Esmeralda......

she makes me think of a scripture in Mosiah 28:3

"Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."

Esmeralda has such a love for the gospel and has felt such a full and true conversion--that makes her want EVERYONE she comes in contact with to get a chance to learn about it. she brought her mom with her to mutual on wednesday night and afterwards we were able to teach her the first lesson. Esmeralda's mom said she felt so much love and peace at esmer's baptism that she HAD to learn more. she saw a change in esmer and wanted to find out how it happened.....we invited--she accepted. we are looking forward to her baptism on the 6th of December.

one of the first times we went to esmers's house there was a boy named clark staying with them....when we offered him a book of mormon he refused it and said he was catholic and not interested.....he came to esmer's baptism--and the spirit that was their softened his heart. we might have had to persuade him with breakfast to teach him before work--but we taught and invited--he accepted. we are looking forward to his baptism on the 6th of december. esmer called to report that she caught her mom reading in the Book of Mormon on her own AND that Clark was on page 65 of the book as well ;)

but wait! esmer also made it to every interview and got rides to the church so she could do some family history so that this saturday--less than a week from her baptism--was able to go to the temple and bring even more souls unto christ!!!! IM NOT KIDDING! THIS GIRL IS AMAZING!!!! no joke every time we see her she is telling us about another person she bore testimony to who is now interested in learning more...esmeralda just gets it! she understands that when she was baptized she became a disciple of christ. and as such--she has been commanded to preach the gospel to EVERYONE. she LOVES the gospel with all of her heart--so it is the first topic of  discussion..the hello-what's up-goodbye. it is in EVERY conversation with EVERY person because she cant contain the joy! let me tell yall....it's inspiring! i hope to be half the missionary she is when the tag comes off ;) the church is soooo true i promise!! and if you know it too...TELL SOMEONE ABOUT IT!!! 

love yall mucho!

hna hull

matchy-matchy with my president! yes i forgot to put on my nametag as i was rushing out the door for zone conference...but check out the saweeeeeet texas necklace a lady in my ward made me!!!

esmer and the temple! really felt like this little princess was coming home to her castle ;)

also...there are jumbo king-size blankets to match these pillowcases...haha i love gifts from members <3

THE BERG #21

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope yall are just feeling the joy because today is a happy day!! and man almighty can i tell yall about this week???? TWAS A BLAST AND A HALF!!!! 

first ill tell yall about THE EVENT....here's the story

so there is an apartment complex that we work a ton in called victoria gardens....and one day the manager walked up to the other sisters in the ward and goes "so there are some residents here that are upset that you havent been by to start teaching them, so can yall put on en event so everyone gets a chance?" HAHA YES!!!!! so we planned it all out--got the ward on board--and then the rain came down and the floods came up :( the event got canceled and we were SUPER bummed because we had told EVERYONE about it! im talking knocking EVERY DOOR of the complex and handing out flyers to each person...getting food and music and pamphlets and BOMs etc.......so we prayed and fasted and HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES HIS CHILDREN so after much debate....the event was UNcanceled and although the skies remained a bleak gray...we shed some LIGHT on victoria gardens!!! we set up a courtyard with various booths with members to explain different aspects of the church...then some hotdogs and chips etc and then sister lenhart, elder monteirth, and myself seranaded everyone with both guitar and vocal chords...and then two other sisters "preached" in both english and spanish, and then we had a recent convert from that complex bear his testimony and THEN we had the bishop and the branch president each introduce themselves and invite everyone to church and we wrapped it all up with mormon messages and a prayer!!! IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and we found sooooo many prepared souls!! IT WAS THE HAPPIEST OF EVENTS!!!!!!! 

also happy day...ESMERALDA GOT DUNKED!!!! she is AMAZING!!! she came an hour early to her baptism--just in case--and asked if she could share her testimony as part of the program...she is a little actress so you best believe it was a testimony of champions! filled with emotion and dramatic hand gestures etc. bless her heart ;) 

we also had the privilege of doing two awesome service projects! 1. restoring a prairie at a state park...found out they are the most endangered ecosystem!! 2. picking up trash for missouri city!! GET OUT AND SERVE YALL!! ITS THE BOMB!! 

the church is true yall--promise!! and if you dont know...ASK!! 

have a blessed week

hna hull

broken shoes...

cutest lady i met on exchanges!! 

cutest lady i met on exchanges!! 

LOVE THIS ANGEL!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sister anderson!

THE BERG #20

happy halloween yall!! 

have to keep this short, but ill include the scripture i ponderized and two cool things!

1. omni 1:26 And now my beloved family and friends, i would persuade yall to partake of the goodness of GOd, repent so there is no more sorrow, enter into his rest, receive blessings and eternal life, by looking unto christ, who i the Holy One of Israel, and accept his atonement and deliverance--partake of his salvation, and the grace/mercy/spirit or pwoer of his redemption/sacrifice. yes, come unto him, and offer you whole souls (commit; serve the Lord with all your heart; trust in the lord 100% and submit your will to him) as an offering/ sacrifice unto him (offer up you broken heart and contrite spirit) and continue in fasting and praying (to wax stronger and stronger in humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of CHrist unto the joy in and consolation of your  souls and the purifying/sanctification of your hearts (that comes from yielding your hearts) and endure to the end (try your best and repent daily); and as the Lord liveth, which he most certainly does, yall will be saved

2. my investigator esmeralda bore her testimony in church yesterday...i had no idea that before we came she was considering taking her own life. "thank you sisters for saving me...thank you God for saving me..." it was amazing! she told us beforehand that she wanted to bear her testimony so she could impress everyone so they would come to her baptism hahaha love this special girl and look forward to her baptism next week!

3. elder corbridge of the quorum of the seventy toured our mission last week! it was an amazing conference :) he focused BIG TIME on the gospel of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and endure to the end. that is the message we share, and it is the most astonishing message there is!!

church is true yall! hope yall had a week full of spirits!! but just the good kind  ;)

hna hull

THANK YOU FAMILY FOR THE PACKAGES!!!!!! we felt very loved :) and had a BLAST eating more sugar than we should!

mas flooding!! these arent lakes...they are front yards!!

halloween happy :)

THE BERG #19

yall, best week EVER!!!!!!!! 
i was studying a lot on Trusting God and giving my heart to him and aligning my will with His etc this week. (it helps that i was ponderizing 2 nephi 4:34that talks all about trusting god and not the arm or flesh etc). The Lord gave me an amazing opportunity this week to apply what i have been studying in real life!!

so here's the story...
Johnathan and Aaron Watson were supposed to get baptized yesterday. we had made the trek out to their boondocky house mulitple times throughout the week, got them white shirts and pants (they were donated), and had the program all made and everything...when we get a call from their mother mary sunday morning that went something like this 

"oh hey Mary! how are yall doing?"
"not good sisters. you know its been raining and we are flooded in. the sheriffs came and warned us and if we leave now we probably wont be able to get back to our house and one of the bridges leading to our house has already flooded....we are so sorry but we dont think we can risk it…"

noooooooooooooooo! it felt like a movie. i was standing in the rain. phone to my ear. and just got the worst news!!! but after saying a quick, but fervent prayer my mind automatically started thinking of every possible solution..we could drive out there but our little corolla would get stuck for sure...and we cant even drive them...no i do not have access to a boat...who lives out there??? so we proceeded to call everyone we know in needville and especially those that have trucks..no luck. one guy with a truck is on a cruise out of the country, the other one's truck is in the shop, etc more and more bad news.....after finding out our ward council meeting wasnt happening, we decided to pop into the spanish branch sacrament service....we just sat there praying and praying like crazy for something or someone to help or some sort of idea to come...really we were praying for a miracle!!! i realized in that moment that i was still trying to be in control. it was driving me crazy that i had done all i could do but nothing was working....i realized then that the lord was giving me an opportunity to trust him. so i kept praying and trying to have faith as the sacrament meeting went on.....just a few minutes after the service ended sister lenhart ran up to me with a HUGE smile on her face and said "you'll never believe what im about to tell you!!!!" she then informed me that a member in our ward--ben masters--came to church early that morning because he had a feeling that someone would need help getting to church that day. he owns a HUGE truck, and brought a wench and towing cables. GOD IS SOOOO GOOD!!! i literally bursted into tears when i heard of this amazing member following a prompting and my dear Father saving the day. HE had the solution. HE knew he could get the boys to church..HE was just giving me an opportunity to trust him. the boys and their parents made it safe and sound to church and were able to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized for a remission of their sins. it was truly an INCREDIBLE experience and i am sooooo thankful for my loving Heavenly Father. for his patience and love and mercy and MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!! the church is true yall. i promise! 

love yall mucho
hna hull

also...the ward party was a BLAST!!!! for real. love this ward family of mine!!

ok also..crazy story again. so after the ward party was over we still had about an hour so we went to try some of our investigators but every single one of them flopped. they either werent home, sick, etc. so we just pulled over and prayed to ask who needed us to visit them.,....we were getting super frustrated because anyone that came to mind after praying fell through as well!! we were just sitting there on the side of the road in the rain super bugged that we couldnt get revelation...after a solid ten minutes of feeling pretty lame..we decide to try a referral a member had given us. so we find the house and park on the side of the road. they have a HUGE driveway and yes it was raining but i didnt want sister lenhart to have to back me out the whole way...so we parked on the street. but as we are getting out of the car a guy pops out of the garage and throws his hands up. our first response is shoot. he is made and wants us off his property..but then he waves at us again and motions/points for us to pull in the driveway and park....so very confused we do so..the whole way asking each other "does this guy know us? did the member tell him we were coming? how did they know? what the?"...we get out of the car and we look at him and he looks at us with (id imagine) the same shocked and confused "i have no idea who you are" look. i ask if he is the man we are looking for and he informs us that we have the wrong house and is not the guy....he and some buddies were having a little tailgate kind of a thing and when he sees our nametags and registers that we are "jesus people" he gets a little sheepish about the beer he is drinking and the mexican music in the background...but opens up a cooler to offer us some of the shrimp/sausage/corn gumbo type dish they have prepared...he goes "we may not be doing holy things--but we'll break bread with yall...have some food!" he offered us some beer too..what a gent. haha we declined the beer..took some corn..and accepted the water he offered us. we were able to say a prayer with them and they told us we were welcome anytime! he said "you know what..maybe Jesus wanted to remind me today that he loves me.." bless his heart. they let us keep the texan mug/cup things AND held open an umbrella for sister lenhart as she backed me out. it was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God has such a sense of humor...if nothing else we were sent to that house as a little pick-me-up! (for us and them!!) god it soooo good!

and last but not least THE BOYS!!! oh happy day!!