To all of our family and friends, it is with gratitude in our hearts as we approach this Thanksgiving Day.  We have been so richly blessed this last year.  To be able to retire and fulfill a lifelong dream of going on a mission and serving the Lord.  

First thing we are grateful for is that it doesn’t snow here on St Thomas!

It has been a special season in our life, as we have found out things, not only about ourselves and each other, but also about our Savior.  We thought we knew Him.  We have glimpsed the feeling of love that our Father in Heaven has for all his children, as we work with and serve. 

We feel great joy as we see how the Lord is taking care of our children at home.  Last night, Elder Martinez from the 2^nd Quorum of the Seventy bless our children at home because of our service here in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. 

We thank Heavenly Father for his patience, his kind loving direction as he has tutored us with the spirit of the Holy Ghost.

We thank all our family and friends for the support, the letters, emails, phone calls, packages, and the love of concern for our welfare. 

With great love and devotion

Elder and Sister Berger

 

November already!  It has been an interesting fall season.  Since nothing changes in the weather, except maybe a little more breeze, the only way to tell the difference in seasons in what is in Kmart.  And they had Christmas decorations up before the middle of October.

The work is moving slowly.  As we work with the ward membership records to find the in-active, we made a discovery that the in-active seem to be the Spanish speaking members.  Since our branch president and the core leadership in the branch are all white members from the states, who do not speak Spanish, we can see why the trend for those who speak only Spanish fall away.  We had 17 people from a cruise ship come to Sacrament meeting.  One was a Bishop from Utah who had been on a mission to Puerto Rico.  He concluded his testimony in Spanish.  That gave the courage to an in-active member to stand and bear his testimony in Spanish.  We were so grateful for that Bishop. Elder Berger is working with the MTC in Provo via Skype to help his Spanish.  He really did have a good base to build on, working with Spanish students.  I tried, but I think the extent to what I can do will be to maybe bear my testimony in Spanish to those we are working with.

We are so grateful to be here in St Thomas.  The things that we have experienced could not be duplicated anywhere else.  We are grateful for the hand of the Lord as we watch his work move forward.  So thankful for a Mission President that worries and is concerned for our welfare, and of the saints in our little branch here on St Thomas.  We are grateful for technology to help us stay connected to those we have left behind. They don't feel so far away.

And we are especially thankful for our knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Words will never convey how we feel toward our Savoir, or the love we feel from him, for his children here in St Thomas. We are just so thankful to be here serving him.