12/21/11 A new nephew... I almost cried...

first of all, those weeks you sent pics and i didnt was before the law was established. you cant set a law, expect to be just with me, but expect me to be merciful. hahaha but ill be sending a few this week dont worry. but why didnt you do a christmas card?? weird. and you still didnt send me a pic of the christmas tree...? that pic of the two of them by the tree is PRICELESS!!

haha such a good one. i almost cried when i saw it haha. its rough on me. tell derek and devin thanks for the timing. haha jerks.

So, THE PHONE CALL...!!!!! first of all, i think its 6 hours difference. just dont screw that up because i wont be able to talk past 5. but its just sacrament meeting here too, so well be done even if we have a baptism, before you guys wake up...oh wait, you'll be in utah huh? then yeah i think it is 5 hours...ta bom. that works better. but blake will probably have to leave sacrament meeting a little early.... and yeah the number i gave you, its the cheapest best way...and that family is legit haha. i love them. i feel at home in their house even though ive only been there 3 times haha.

What was your favorite thing I sent? Just curious... look at the pictures and you'll see...haha jk..kinda.

the peanut butter and the m&ms. i love those mint ones. and they like dont believe in mint here haha. and christmas isnt christmas without mint haha oh and the shells and cheese. oh and the face wash. ha i dont know! everything! it was all great!

Anything you want me to send for your Bday? for my bday? haha i thought that one was for christmas and one for my bday...? haha i dunno, you did a pretty good job this time. maybe some beef jerky...?more peanut butter. i almost ate a whole thing already.

When your MP asked you what you had learned from each of your parents, what did you tell him? i dont remember exactly. i think i told him love and friendship from you because everybody loves you because you love everybody, and hard work from dad, never start a job and net finish it or do it all the way to the best of your ability. at least thats what i think i said. if he asked me again i would answer like that now haha

Did you have the baptisms you were planning this past weekend? just one. but it was amazing! he was ridiculously happy haha he gave me huge hug after and thanked me slash us. hes going out with us saturday and sunday the whole day haha. he has nobody to spend christmas with so we invited him haha Do you have any for next weekend? we have one, maybe two, but theyre both really iffy :/

Do you use an umbrella? yes, of course. well this past two weeks no because my comp lost his, so hes using mine and im using my poncho haha. and im down to one pair of shoes that doesnt have holes. im going to get my other ones repaired again. i already wore of the plane tire soles haha

What video's on the church web site were you talking about? The Christmas devotional?? yeah. well, i dunno they said they put up videos of christmas that they filmed in the utah desert. (they talked about it and showed a clip from it in the devotional.

ill tell you more about the funny stuff on the phone. just remind me. haha ive got a few funny stories... but thats it for now...love ya mom! tchau! ate Domingo!
Elder Bergquist

12/14/11 (Today is the day his new nephew was born, but he doesn't know it yet!)

mom, well, first things first, i have my camera plugged into the computer here, but im not seeing any pics from you, so infelizmente, i'll have to disconnect it....WHAT?! you thought this was a one way promise or what? sorry you, made the rules not me...

and yeah, hangers. what are you gonna do about it? (The pic he sent last week of their Christmas tree had hangers hanging on it!) now that ive got the lakers ornament, (he obviously got his Christmas packages I sent... I sent him a Laker's ornament) we can take the rest down hahaha. that decorates it enough for all the rest.

freakin Blake. i have a year haha, what a good brother he is. but i guess i understand. i wrote to derek and devin each i think 2 times ha. (He sent Blake an email and asked if he got it coz Blake didn't write him back, Blake said, "What's the rush, I have a year...")

what the heck. i guess i got tricked about the whole birth thing. i thought once the contractions started it was like at the most 48 hours. Well, i guess i dont know anything still, but thats okay i dont need to know about that stuff yet, só daqui 2 anos quando eu to tendo meu primeiro filho hahahaaha jk....kinda...hahaha (I told him when I was emailing him last week that Diana was in labor... well, she had the baby today, 12/14/11 Krew James Bergquist, 6 lbs. 6 oz. 20 in. and a perfect 10!)

and skype con certeza nao haha. we have 40 minutos but theres a couple in my ward that hast "magic jack" which is like the same thing as calling to Boston because thats where they bought it. so you'll be calling to this number: 1 617 XXX XXXX viu? its just like a call to someone in boston, so you dont need to put the country code or anything. her name is gilda and his is fransisco. theyve got a couple of kids in the states studying at byu and byui. they lived in boston for a few years and speak english. (i dont know how well?) but she has facebook you can look for her. gilda (pacheco?) i think. they live in belo horizonte. let me know about the time that will work for you. for me it will have to be between 1 and 4. my time. so i think thats 7 and 10. we have to be done by 5 oclock and the call is 40 minutes.

How was your week? it has been great. the Lord is really blessing us! :)

How many investigators in church Sunday? we had like 7 or 8. 2 that are friends of recent converts that they brought without even saying anything to us. one was a girlfriend of a member and the rest we brought. que bêncão!

Any baptisms?? this past sunday no. but weve got at least 2 for this week!

Still raining a lot? yeah, pretty much everyday. and they say it will until like feb.

Hot? yeah. not super hot, but humid and were working, so it feels really hot

How are things going with Andreas? ahh...he didnt go to church, were still gonna work with him, but i dont know if its his time

And, how about Murilo? he hasnt gone to church the past two weeks too, although he was sick both times, but we went there last night because shirlei asked us to, but then he wasnt there he had to go help one of his clients....

How about Jonas? were working with him still but he didnt go to church, but one of the other guys that lives with him is getting baptized this week!

What did you do for hump day?? ha. MISSIONARY WORK!!! just like we do everyday pinkey

How is tracting/teaching going? just excellent

Is it going to be a white Christmas there?? you know it!! were working with a couple people for christmas day already!

Anything fun/funny happen this week? everything! id love to tell you but ive got 3 minutes! haha

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest?? the Christmas devotional on sunday! it was soooo good! rogerio and maria went (the two that will be baptized this week!) the spirit was super strong! did you already go on the site and watch those videos?

anyway gotta go! love you all! tell dad sorry but weve got like 8 appointments to get to before 9! were running everywhere today! thanks so much for the packages mom! they were OTIMO!!! you picked perfect stuff! love you! send me pics of the tree at home! and of the family christmas card!! what did you do for that? tchau!
um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

Here are a couple of Elder Bergquist's new nephew, Krew James Bergquist, 6 lbs. 6 oz. 20 in. and a perfect 10!

12/7/11 i love knocking doors, 90 degrees and rains almost every day!

hows it goin pops?
before i forget, yes i get the pics you send. sounds like chads doing well. they say to learn a language you have to mess up at least 1000 times to become fluent, or in other words, hes one error closer to being fluent haha. but i dont know if that applies to bergquists haha so i dunno....that would be pretty legit to have cp3 and dwight on the lakers. weird at first. but really good. but who knows they always talk about trades like that and never do them ha. byu is a joke. but i hope they continue with this kicker just one more season. that would be great! well see. ha the 9ers are lookin good, and the ward too. i think about the missionaries there often. how little i helped them. i feel terrible at times. ha. ive repented and ill make up for it when i get home. but it sounds like weve had a couple of good duplas there....and some good member missionary work. que bêncão! love ya pops. and im here til january dont worry. unless theres some kind of emergency. tchau!
Elder Bergquist


mommy!
well, lets see, im sad i havent seen pictures of Krew yet, but its all good, ill have a monte a semana que vem ne? ha tanners a good guy. ha miss that kid, but im writing him so its all good. i dont know if blake said anything to you, but i wrote him last week. i wrote a book to him. ha but really it was long. but he didnt write back...i hope it went through...you scared me with all that talk about grandma. nossa. i hope all is well...and about you getting better and me praying, yeah i'll pray for you, but i dont think my prayers are any stronger then the rest of the family haha. did you think about a bencao de saude?

Well, how was YOUR week? wonderful. 3 of our recent converts bore their testimony on sunday. it was amazing. Shirlei's was probably the best, most spiritual of the meeting(not to brag. it wasnt me that converted her. i was just an instrument...) and tawilly and pauliene bore their testimony together. but litterrally together at the pulpit. it was the first time i had seen that haha. good stuff.

Who all are you teaching now? the whole bairro de sao salvador, gloria, sao jose, ipanema, california, novo progresso, laguna, filadelfia, and a couple others too haha. were teaching everyone we can!! ha

How many investigators did you have at church on Sunday? 4 ha. todos homems! que bencao! haha

How big is your ward? on the list? about 800 haha. frequencia? about 80-100. they say that an american (bonitão) passed through here and baptized like 80 women and girls and guess how many are active? i think they said 1 haha. okay so its not really that funny, but a little. i dont know how these missionaries do that. haha

Do they help you with referrals? yeah, not a ton, and ate agora havent been super successful, but they give referrals sim

Are you doing a lot of tracting? yup. you know me i love knocking doors. (actually, now that i think about it, i dont think you know me exactly how i am now haha) i think back to wyoming and how many doors i knocked and talked. (i think 1 haha) ive changed a little bit on the mission haha.

What is the weather like there? its like 90 degrees and rains almost everyday. we took a good shower saturday and monday. good times. its sucks because you leave the house in the morning and its like 90 degrees and sunny and then you knocking doors like 5 oclock and BAM! flash fllod haha. its worderful.

How are things going with Andreas? pretty good. hes just a little insecure. were trying to figure out exactly why, he says he just wants more certeza.

How is Murilo? hes doin alright. were gonnna have a family night at theie house tonight! like 20 or 25 people vão. :D

Anyone ready for baptism? were working with the jonas, the profet, we rescued him from the whale and were trying to point him in the direction of where he needs to go. we'll see where he ends up going...

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? well i told you about shirleis testimony, we had a really spiritual lesson about repentace today with tawilly and pauliene and luciene. it was really good.

Do you know an Elder McKell or a Sister Corin? I think they were both at your Christmas conference.... i know of elder mckell. mas sister...nao ha i dont know any sisters ha

Have you gotten the packages I sent yet? (the one that Kelli sent got sent back because she didnt put enough postage on it! so she is going to send it again) no. do you realize you sent them like 3 weeks ago? it takes like 3 months for them to get here haha. and bem feito kelli haha. gotta go my credits are acabando! tchau!
Elder Bergquist

Our Christmas trees

11/30/11 a picture on the tree as our present to the Lord for Christmas

hey pops!
hows it going? things seem to be going real well back at home. its good to hear. sounds like some pretty good stuff is going on. and prayers are being answered. que continue assim. que bencao. i dont have a whole lot of time today, and i really want to write blake, so sorry pops but youll have be be satisfied with pouco essa semana. hope you dont mind. but im not liking the idea of the nba deal, theyre gonna burn out kobe. and good that the us won the cup. good stuff all around it looks like. Weston is the man. does he have a 6 pack yet? haha all those sit ups and laughing has got to do some good. love you dad.
Your favotite son,
Elder Bergquist

hey mom. sorry today will be short. but well be able to talk on the phone like tomorrow (what a nut, in in 24 days, but whose counting??) ha so dont even worry haha

So, how was your week? maravilhosa

Any baptisms this week? infelizmente nao :/

What happened to the couple that wasnt married? negaram a verdade, infelizment parece que nao e a hora deles.

How is it going with Geraldo? ah....nem sei, mole. ha um dia ele vai ver ha

Did you go back and see the man that wanted to find the true church? no he wast keeping his commitments

How about Andreas? hes comin along. slowly but surely. he just wants to be a pro soccer ´player and plays on sundays ha, so thats his big problem. but i talked to him a lot about how i played to and sempre the championchip game was on sunday and i never played and got put on the sucky team because of that but how it was a worthy sacrifice and i knew that as i followed the commandments he would guide me to what i needed in my life. well see what happens after he prays about it...

And Shirleis friend? shes got a lot ha, shes loving the gospel and like alma and the sons of mosiah she wants to share with everybody now that shes converted and felt the love of God in her life. shes helping a lot and is the strongest convert i think on the face of the earth. ha jk but she truly converted. she had a change in her heart and spirit and is very very happy now, and wants to share with everyone! its great :)

Murilo? hes still having a little trouble, but were seeing changes in him too. very slow and very subtle, but changes nonetheless, i think were still here in part because of him.

Anyone else you are working with? a few people, but nobody thats super serious, and it changes every week depending on how much they want it, because were out here to find people like shirlei that are being or have been prepared.

Did you get the package Kellie S. sent? (BTW, Aunt Melodie said they are going to send you a little package too) ainda nao....

Any funny/crazy stories from this week? not anything too crazy, but we had our christmas conference. it was really nice. sister parrella is really like a mom to us haha its great. (of course she'll never compare to my real mom) hahah but it was really nice and had tons of sweet. nossa. i ate so much junk ha

When was the Spirit the strongest? ou na conferencia. we heard a lot of testimonies and messages, including the profet and apostles and that special witnesses of Christ dvd. it was really spiritual. and we had a family night at muriilo and shirleis house with their whole family. it was the birthday of shirleis brother who committed suicide. we shared with them part of one of uchtdorfs talks about the love of God and parts of the family a proclamation to the world and about how families can be together forever through Gods plan and if we do our part and how this knowledge is here because of the restoration. it was really good.
but thats all i got for you this week. i love you all. love you mom. and hope the best for diana and krew. im praying for you. Boa semana!
Elder Bergquist

heres a couple pics from the christmas conference yesterday. each dupla went up and shared an experience of baptism from this month and put a picture on the tree as our present to the lord for christmas. it was really cool. and heres the result ha and me with pres and sister parrella

11/23/11

To his dad...

haha oh dr mickuliks...eu tambem nao sei como que escreve...but thats weird that he knows you're bishopping (Chad has Dallin's AP Lang teacher this year and he told Chad, "hey chad while your dad is out the "bishopping" maybe he can put in a good word for the school play." We thought that was pretty funny. He also still has a picture of Dallin up by the side of the desk and refers to him often) but thats good to know that he liked me...i would have never guessed. knowing him he was probably asking if you could announce it in church or something...ha sei lá. i didnt really understand the story about tanner and kaitelyn...and when you say that im assuming you mean katelyn kerr? and yeah i am pretty immersed in the work. its going really well here in progresso ate agora...and were staying mais uma transferencia...i will be here in progresso for Christmas, new years and my birthday. im loving the work. thanks for always supporting me and helping me see how blessed i really am. and its good to see the 9ers doing well...or should i say hear that theyre doing well...what day is thanksgiving by the way? is it this week? tomorrow? weird. i cant believe its almost december já!! love ya pops. keep up the good bishoping!
teu filho preferido,
Elder Bergquist

we had 3 baptisms.
tawilly and luciene (friend and mother of pauliene)
and maria dora. (mother and grandma of a family of members. she has osteoperosis and is always in pain, but in the baptismal font when we took her out of the wheelchair and dunked her, she felt nothing at all. all she said was "oh que gostoso" no pain whatsoever. QUE BÊNCÃO!!! love ya'll


primeiro. vou reclamar. what a rip off!! you sent one picture! whats that about. cheap. i wanted to send you guys a package, but i dont know about the money, and ill be coming home for christmas, so ill just bring with me next year and then they can be better presents. haha. but i think im gonna not send pictures this week because i got ripped off. maybe ill be a good son. we'll see....mas que milagre! tell hayley i said hi when you see her and ask her to sing beautiful eyes for you guys. haha does she have a cd out yet? haha i know she was working on one. and tanner is going to byui...i didnt know that...he told me he was leaning towards ldsbc. anyways. as perguntas:

DID YOU GET TRANSFERRED??? (I keep praying that you and your comp will get to stay there together!!!) NOPE. your prayers came true. haha were both still here

How was your week? great. we had 3 baptisms :)

Any baptisms this week? yup olha para cima

Any commitments? umm...a couple, but theyre not married yet. it was really disappointing when we found that out.

How is the teaching going? its going really well, at least i think so, if not i dont think wed be baptizing haha

Who all are you teaching? were still working with murilão, e geraldo...and a couple others...

How is the man that said, "I want to find the true church" coming along??! he said that, but i dont think he really wants to , he didnt keep commitments and didnt go to church, its really sad, but maybe a little mas para frente...

How is Sobrinho coming along? i believe you are talking about shirlei's sobrinho (nephew) his name is Ándreas. and its going well, but hes a typical 17 year old and doesnt understand the importance yet, but hes coming along

How about Shirlei's friend? she didnt come this week...we'll see...

and her nephew? ja respondi ha

How about Paulienes mom? ver as fotos. ha. ela batizou.

and her friend? tambem. :) theyre all doing really well. they love their young womens leader já

How about Murilo? hes having a tough time...he just want the Lord to do stuff in his way instead of the other way around, but i believe that were still here in part to help him to understand and be baptized too...

Did you get the package Kaitlin O'Connor sent you? yes. thank her for that. i got it last week.

Did you get the package Kellie Sprunt sent you? ainda nao

When did you feel the Spirit this week? every second of my life. haha no but we had a lesson with a family that was really good, we all felt the spirit very strong and the dad said at the end, i only want to be baptized because a lot of people from a lot of religions already passed by and taught, but i never felt what i felt with you guys tonight. that was really good to hear. and i love this work and how the spirit is teaching and guiding me everyday. i know my savior lives and i know he loves us. im praying for you guys. i love you! tchau!
Elder Bergquist

11/16/11 "the testimony that comes after the trial of the faith"

To his dad...

Sup pops!
First of all, when i think of being proud of something or someone i think of ammon when he glories in God about the work they did. the souls they saved. and i think your safe in being proud of me if he could do that and have it registered in the scriptures for millions of people thousands of years later to read and study and use as an example. what do you think? haha ammon is the man. but other than that, these past few weeks have been the best of the mission so far. I am absolutely loving this area, and learning how to really follow the spirit. not that i didnt know how before, but now with someone thats only got a transfer, ive gotta really be on my toes. and im recognizing more easily everyday. were working hard and the Lord is blessing us DEMAIS!! its ridiculous, i feel like He's blessing me too much, like im not worthy of all these blessings, but i dunno, maybe its "the testimony that comes after the trial of the faith" that i had in my last area. my comp is writing a "dear john" to his girlfriend. (i talked him into it a little haha) but he just realized that he bought blue envelopes here so instead of calling it a dear john its a carta azul (blue letter) haha good stuff. anyway. love you pops. looks like the NBA is gonna wait for me to get back before they play anymore. they cant go on without me. haha. Até mais papai. Tchau.
Elder Bergquist

heres some pics from our baptizm this week. the older one is Shirlei. Absolutely an elect of the Lord if ive ever seen one! shes got a stronger testimony than i had up until the mission. shes going to be a leader in the relief society before i leave the mission. i guarantee it. and were working with her family too, her dad is the one with a bit of scruff and weve been working with him for a while, but he hasnt felt (or recognized) his answer yet. he says he cant feel God. and her nephew tambem who is the other guy in the picture, just that he works a ton and has school so its rough finding time to teach him.
the other is pauliene. and shes there with her mom and friend. her mom will be baptized soon too and her friend looks like it too, even though it was her fault that pauliene almost didnt get baptized. she had told her that the book of mormon is a book of the devil and were a cult and all that good stuff, but after going to an activity saturday and church sunday, we went to see how they were doing and she apologized for what she had done, and then they left to go hear an apostle talk at the fireside. theyre loving the young womens program, pauliene wears her medallion everyday!!



Mommy!
Hows it going back in good old Californ eye aye? Speaking of, theres a bairro here in our area called california. so whenever people ask where im from i respond "aqui pertinho, california" (pointing in the direction of the bairro.) haha theres also a filadelfia. Brasilians pretend like they dont like america, especially my comp! but they wish they were there. haha jk. kinda... ill answer your question first. oh and before i forget again!! Happy Birthday! sorry i didnt send it last week, i was in a rush because we had a compromisso with pauliene. but as soon as i left the house i remembered and i wished you a happy birthday anyway. when i got to their house i counted that story to them all too ha. that i had forgotten. but i didnt forget really, just for a minute. but i even wrote it in my journal monday night. and we sung "the lord is my light" and it reminded me of you. i always have thought of that as one of your favorite hymns. i could be completely wrong, but whenever i hear it i think of you. so happy birthday! and i cant believe your so old too, XX years. i did it for you because to be able to post this i know youd do that haha. or should i have put 29 years old? hahah

SO, did you have the baptisms this weekend that you thought you would?? yup :) shirlei and pauliene

Is Shirlei's family already members? nope. but one day they will be. ha were working with a lot of them. shes got a huge family and her parents are separated, but we are teaching her dad and sobrinho and we taught her mom yesterday, and her sister went to church sunday too, so we'll see in the end who all ends up being members. ha

How was your week? it was wonderful

Did any investigators come to church on Sunday? just seven. plus our two baptisms. it was a really good week. both of our baptisms brought visitors to see and we had a couple others too. i was really happy

Tell us about the people you are teaching... well were teaching paulienes mom and good friend, who should both be baptized here pretty quick, and a friend of shirlei and her nephew and a couple other people.

Any progress with Murilo? yeah, but nothing he has recognized. everyone else sees the differences... ha hes just a little blind. he cut his beard this week too!! haha

WHAT AN AWESOME story about the senhora that luciene e pauliene take care of (the blessing!)!!! How are they all doing??? Really good. pauliene is doing great loving the young womens program, and luciene should be baptized here pretty soon :)

How far away is you ld and zd? ld is about 20 minutes away by bus and lz i have no idea. hes in alvorado...but i dont know where that is haha

How far away is the mission office? like 40 minutes by bus.

Where are you reading/studying right now? all over the place haha. i have been studying a lot about the atonement and the role of it in the plan of salvation...

When did you have the most fun this week? the most fun...i dunno...haha at the baptism?? haha

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? the spirit...i dunno...haha at the baptism?? haha

PLEASE share some stories of what all you did all week! yesterday we were walking to a street we had planned to knock and i stopped in the middle of the street and felt like we needed to knock those doors. so i started, the first like 4 doors, no interest, but my comp yells to me from the other side of the street to go in a house. (we knock one on each side of the street) haha so we go in and the guy spills his guts to us that he wants to find "the true church" (nobody talks like that, it was kinda weird) but as we were leaving he goes "you dont have anything for me to read?" as i was reaching into my backpack to get a book of mormon. he seems like he will be really interested. were going back tonight and well see for sure. but that was when the spirit spoke to me this week. we stopped in the middle of a random street and found this guy. finally priesthood!! :) tchê!!!

Are you exercising every day? yeah, some days more diligently than others but i do something everyday now haha

Anyway, thats my report from Belo Horizonte Basil this week. Until the next report. i love you all!
Elder Bergquist!
and my comp says i have to "botar um TCHÊ" for him. its a slang from rio grande do sul...tchau!!

11/9/11 Miracles

well, sounds like your life is pretty boring with no nba haha. thats so crazy to me that they just like cancelled it. what exactly is going on?? why did they stop the games? being bishop has calmed down? not so crazy anymore? half the missionaries from the stake are from our ward. thats what im talking about! haha so can i be expecting a few letters in a couple of weeks here? haha its crazy to me how fast the time goes out here ha. anyway, i love you pops. keep your head up, the nba will get up and running one of these days. haha ate o próximo. te amo.
um abraço,
teu filho,
Elder Bergquist


olá mamãe! tudo bom?
well this week was a pretty good one. im lovin this area. progresso. thanks for the pictures. and that rule with the pictures can start next week, but you cant get mad at me this week mom. come on. you have to give me a minute. today i dont even have my camera...so you cant start with that rule. and next week ill have some baptism pics for you. dont you worry. :) chad is 16. thats so weird. i knew it would come someday but i dont feel like he should be that old. its weird. ill answer you questions now ha...

So how was your week? its been a good one :)

Did you baptize shirlei on Sunday? no not yet, we moved it to this week so her family can be there. its going to be great. shes an elect of the Lord if ive ever seen one. when we taught about the law of chastity she got sooo happy. "ive always thought that way. and i know that its a law of God" then she got all sad and asked, what does your church teach about tattoos? she had one done and regrets it a lot haha she got all embarrassed and was like it was a time of my life that i just felt like i needed to do it, but i know its not right haha. shes eleitíssimo.

How is Murilo doing? hes doing well. he goes to church every week, reads the scriptures and is really happy when we come to teach him, but "he doesnt have faith" as he says. its hard to explain to him because he looks at everything literally...but weve got some things planned for him.

Who else are you teaching? we have a mother and daughter were teaching. pauliene and luciene. they both have had really strong answers to their prayers and are progressing well. they take care of an elderly lady with alzheimers, but ill get back to that story a little later...

How is your ward? its really good. i like it a lot. the sisters are really good. but the youth is kinda weak, but were working with that ha. no worries

Did you bare your testimony on Sunday? claro, the missionaries have to, we have to be an example of the believers, não é?

Are you serving in a wealthy ward or a poor area? umm...normal. there are wealthy areas and poor areas in every ward i think...but in this one theres not a whole lot of either. ha

Do you take the bus often or just walk? no we walk everywhere in this area. its not very big...just when we have to go to the mission office or something like that.

How big is the city you are in? im in BH. i think you asked that last week ha. its the biggest city in the mission.

Are you the only missionaries in the city? no. hahah you asked that one already too haha

Is there just one ward? no ha theres like 4 stakes...

Where is the closest temple? the closest is campinas, and just a little farther is sao paulo...

Is the fruit there good? no its terrible...haha sike! yeah its bomb. i love the juice the sisters make at lunch. maracujá goiaba. you know all those tropical fruits haha. and fruit is cheap too. i love it.

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? thats a tough one. sacrament meeting was really good, studying about the atonement is always really good too. and teaching shirlei is always really good. but i think to top it off would probably be with the senhora that luciene e pauliene take care of...she has had alzheimers for about 5 years and getting worse. when we met her and asked her name she didnt understand what we were saying and couldnt answer....after we gave her a blessing, (we thought that would be the only way the two could be baptized because with her like that they cant both leave and leave her alone at home) so we gave her a blessing and afterward as my comp was talking to them i asked the lady "a senhora tem fé em Cristo" ela respondeu "tenho" ("Do you have faith in Christ?" she replied "yes") then my comp came and asked "a senhora acredita que ele pode curar você?" ela respondeu "sim" ("do you believe he can heal you?" she replied "yes") it was a miracle in the moment. the power of the priesthood is real. and this sunday the three of them are going to church with us and pauliene (the daughter, who went to church alone last week) should be getting baptized with shirlei. im loving the mission!

Do you have a little hymn book? yes i got one in the ctm . no worries haha.

So, I am mailing out your package on Thurs... I know you want tooth brushes and face wash... anything else??? not that i can think of. besides peanut butter...haha thats the only thing i think of when you ask that haha

i love the mission. i love serving the lord. i love you mom. and all of you that may be reading this email. i love my savior Jesus Christ and thank God everyday for his atonement. i love being able to share with my brothers and sisters everyday this marvelous gospel. i love the miracles i see every day, including just being able to communicate with the people. the lord really loves us. every single one. anybody who is thinking about serving a mission as you read this letter. do it. its the best thing you could ever do with your life.

um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

11/2/11 Peace and Health

Hey mommy. how are you?
first im gonna answer the questions because my comp is impatient i might not write a whole lot, we'll see haha. or maybe thats just an excuse because i dont feel like sitting in front of a computer screen haha

How was your week? it was really good

Do they have Halloween in Brasil? i think so. but its not like it is there. my comp said they just have parties sometimes. and some people dress up for the parties but generally no. only if there a costume contest ha

Is Elder Ballard an AP? yeah. hes only got like 2 months more than me on the mish. he is a really good missionary

Did you guys have a baptism? last week no, but we have one marked for this week. shes got a really strong testimony

Are you teaching anyone that is golden/accepted baptism? see previous question haha. her name is shirlei. her dad went to church the last two weeks. Murilo. he says he doesnt feel God so he cant have faith, but were trying to make him realize that he has felt him and he has faith or else he wouldnt be going to church and talking to us so much ha. but she went with him this week and liked it a lot. she bore her testimony to us in our lesson sunday and has a stronger testimony than i had until i was like 16 haha. shes got a really strong testimony and loved the lesson on chastity in gospel principles

Are you still teaching the dad of the girl you baptized last week? yeah, well mais ou menos (more or less).

Has he stopped smoking? he has not stopped smoking, hes kinda losing faith. hes gonna buy a pill to try to stop smoking....vamos ver....(we'll see)

Did you get a Shaila Bergquist Sunday dinner? ehh....no not really, but it was good. it was the day elder ballard was here and she served umm she called it parmesan. like chicken parmesan. it was like steak? with mashed potatoes and tomato sauce. it was pretty good. and we had peanut butter sandwiches as an appetizer haha that was bomb. then she gave the jar of peanut butter to alder ballard ha. i was pretty jealous. but then we ate at another house and she made mashed potatoes exactly like yours mom haha it was ridiculous. i told her and she said ta bom então (well, then), ill make them again the next time. which is saturday. so im pretty happy about that haha

Do you dream in Portuguese? i dont remember the last time i had a dream that anyone talked haha. my dreams are just like flashes. theyre like slideshows haha. when i have them. which is rare. haha

Tell us something funny that happened this week... well, paz, e saúde (Peace and health) haha. its funny because every time we start a lesson we ask if we can ask for something in the prayer for them. 99.9% of everybody says paz e saúde (peace and health) and so we ask. is there some problem you have here in the home or with your health. no i just need these things.....haha its pretty funny. also we talked to a guy who tried to tell us that we should go home because sacrifices isnt what God wants. he asked if we feel "preso" that its just by grace that were saved so i asked why we have the bible and the laws and teachings, he said so that we know that were sinners. once we admit that were saved. he asked if he could say a prayer, and im pretty sure he tried to cast out demons out of me and my comp haha.

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? muitas vezes (often) ...but when shirlei bore testimony to us. then we marked 2 nefi 31 and mosiah 18 for her to read. she sent us a text like 2 hours later thanking us and i know shell be baptized...we went back last night and marked her baptism for this sunday. estamos animados!! (we are encouraged)

blake, how was hanging out with hayley stayner?? haha did you make her sing for you at least? haha paige....kaitlin told me that you miss me. thats so sweet hahahaha.

i loved the pitures. that one of weston is legit. with the twix wrapper haha good stuff. hows krew doing? haha

mom if you havent sent the package yet, throw in a good toothbrush (one with like firm bristles) haha and a good face wash. além disso.....


FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO CHAD! PARABÉNS!! THE BIG16 EH? tell me how it is haha. love you all!
Um abração!
Elder Bergquist

10/26/11 baptism in this church really does change people

Hey everybody! how is everyone? mom? hows the chin? hahahaha i laughed out loud litterally, maybe i should start asking you what the funniest thing that happened was every week haha. that was pretty dang funny. but. only because you told me about it so i know youre okay. i hope it didnt hurt too bad. ill answer your questions and include a few stories and details. ta bom? sorry i dont have much time this week we have an appt at 5 so were cut short on time.

How are you? im doing absolutely fabulous. and you? ha

How was your week? it was an extraordinary week haha

Did you have a baptism? (the father and the daughter??) we did baptize the daughter, but the father ainda nao...he isnt really esforcando to stop smoking. were still going to keep working with him but im not sure if its his time yet. we'll see if its a wake up call for him that we arent there everyday now. because he really likes us ha and we also had another baptism. it was really cool. she went to church sunday, and we set up an appt on thursday to go see her. when we got there we realized that she had already been taught everything by the other missionaries, and was keeping all the commandments. so we invited her to be baptized. she told us she wanted to learn more, but also bore her testimony and showed that it was pretty strong, so we explained to her that she cant know everything before baptizm and the spirit will help her learn faster, when she heard that, she decided to be baptized and we had her baptism on saturday night. it was a really cool experience

How is the working coming along? its going pretty good. im learning a lot. my comp is new but a really good missionary. and is helping me grow.

Are you still teaching the 92 year old lady and her boyfriend? no

Any golden contacts? umm...its hard to tell, por enquanto, no...but were teaching a few that recognized christ in our countenance when we went there the first time, so well see if they stay firm. i have faith they will, because when they recognize us like that they normally do.

Are you and your companion having fun? yeah, hes a really animado gaúcho ha ha

Working hard? certainly. who do you think i am? haha we end up running to get home on time usually at least twice a week its pretty funny. everyone probably thinks were crazy

Why does the lady that lives above you come to the states a lot? i dont know. because its the united states...? haha

Did she make a Shaila Bergquist Sunday dinner for ya'll? ainda no. she feeds us tomorrow. so we'll see haha

Anything funny happen this week? nope. nothing. ha yeah...let me see....we took one investigator to church, who says he doesnt have faith in christ yet. but its just because he doesnt recognize the spirit. he says he cant feel God. its pretty tough. but our lesson in gospel principles was on eternal marriage and he took over the class asking questions and expressing doubts. ha hes an interesting guy. he always asks, first thing to everyone, who committed the first sin and where? of course everyone says adam in the garden. and he come in with, no it was satan in the "spiritual plan" ha doido. he also did the same thing in priesthood but made everyone stay like 15 minutes after because he doesnt really stop talking haha.

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? after Karine's baptism. i was really happy to see another alma nas aguas. and the change we saw in her after the baptism was amazing. i dont know if i told you, but she doesnt talk. remember how i was when i was younger...? shes like 100 times worse. she says yes no and i dont know....só its pretty tough. but after the baptism we went over there to talk to the dad and the rest of the family and she was conversing with us and laughing and messing with her dad for smoking. it was really cool. baptism in this church really does change people. :)

also in my interview with president. it was really good. i learned a lot. he told me i need to be more bold in my teaching and try to find the source of pride in my life, because its a problem that everyone has and once you find the source thats when you can actually change it and become more humble. it was really good. other than that, remember how i said they doent do exchanges in this mission, well my lz called last night and said id be going on an exchange with Elder Ballard this week. Not the apostle. at least i dont think so hahaha. but elder ballard, my comp said, was assistant to pres when he got here. so im kinda nervous. im not sure what its about.

umm...dad doesnt love me or what? haha jk. i didnt write him last week so i wont get mad. is that why or is he just really busy or what? and cadê meus irmãos?? i want to hear from you all!! haha. blakes email is bgb11187 right? @gmail? at @aol? i got a letter from elder marchetti yesterday. and from elder trujillo, my comp from montana. i was pretty excited. anyway thats all. the pics are of Karines baptism, with her mom (baptised 2 weeks ago) and her dad.

and of maria josé. our two baptisms this week.

love you mom. hope all is well. i love all the rest of you too! até mais! tchau!

Um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

oh and ask devin if he misses alfajor? haha my comp got a package with like 1000 of them this week. theyre pretty bomb haha. tchau!

10/19/11 gotta go save some souls!

kleber who gave us these jerseys. ha gente boa! (His last area) CAM Atlético de Minas Gerais. he played on like the AAA team i think, but he was really good, has back problems now, but played against some of the best players in the world

thats my new comp. looks like brandon. and reminds me of blake. haha


Dear mother,

How are you this week? im very very good

Tell us all about your new companion! (personality) he reminds me of blake haha. hes kinda little but hes got a strong personality and seems like everyone likes him. hes really friendly and firm in his opinions. And he came out to the mission with 25 years old! tell blake to follow his example!!! seriously. its me dream to see him out here at the same time as me. theres nothing better blake. i promise. prepare, dont put it off any more

Is he from uruguay? no hes from brasil but he was raised on the border between uraguay and brasil. he said its just an avenue and one side is brasil and the other is uruguay

How long has he been out? he just completed 2 months ha. im his second comp

Tell us about your area! im in BH. the BH oeste (west) stake. and im liking it alot. possibly my favorite area so far. or alfenas. not sure. and speaking of. tell dad i live on rua eugênia nery. i dont remember the number. and the church is like 3 blocks from our house on avenida brigadeiro eduardo gomes. i believe it is bairro grória.

How big is the city? im in BH. pretty big haha

Are you the only missionaries there? no hahaha theres a lot. hahaa

How far away are the closest missionaries? i dont know exactly. like 20 minutes or so...?

How big is your ward? the bishop said theres about 800 on the papers, but about 130-150 frequencia on average.

What is your house/apt like? its below the house of a member. shes really funny. she goes to the states a lot and showed us her pantry thing today, she has like 10 things of peanut butter that she brings from the states all the time and shes gonna try to make a shaila bergquist sunday dinner for me. roast beef, mashed potatoes and rolls hahaha. but theres a leak in the pipes where the toilet flushes above us. and it leaks down the wall of our kitchen. its wonderful! QUE BÊNÇÃO!!!

Are the mosquitoes bad? no. just flies haha like little fruit flies...

How hot is it? not too bad. its been raining so its really humid but not that hot , just that we walk a lot

Did you have a baptism this weekend? (the father and daughter??) yes! i think were gonna baptise her tonight, were going to her house right now to confirm with them and the dad is still smoking but went from 60 a day and smoked 13 yesterday and the goal is the 4 he has left will be his last. we took him some lollipops last night to try to help him with the habit.

How many lessons did you teach this week? we havent had a full week yet but de quarta ate domingo (Wednesday through Saturday) it was like twenty something ha dont remember

Tell us something funny that happened! we taught this lady on her front porch. we knocked and she answered a pretty old lady, i thought she was like 75 or so...she was 92. halfway through the lesson her "neighbor slash friend" comes to join. hes a pretty old guy. i thought like 70 or so...he was 88. and they are boyfriend and girlfriend. were like 99 percent sure. its was so funny the way they treated each other. they were like flirting and then at the end they both had doubts whether they were baptized or not and were both wanting to talk and ask questions and she kept trying to talk but he would talk over her and he finished and goes "now you can talk maria, go ahead..." haha it was comedy

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? i studied Doctrine and Covenants 130....i felt the spirit in that...lots of stuff in a little chapter. i spent two whole days studying verse 7. haha i want to know more. but also i feel like weve been teaching really well and direct. we had one lady tell us after the lesson, so wait im not baptised? ive been in this church for 49 years and thought i was baptized but this whole time its been a lie? so she told us she was going to pray because she still wasnt sure and had doubts and would call us the next day. it was a really good experience, just that sadly someone must have said something to her because we passed by her house the next day and she ran and hid from us...its really sad, but she has the doubt, one day shell come around and get over the other false churches. the spirit was really strong there though , and in a couple other lessons too, well todas, mas sempre algumas mais que outras.... (all, but always some more than others)

my comp was telling me about an axe commercial he saw of a missionary that like "goes bad" have you seen it? he said it was from there...? sei lá. (you are there) sounded kinda funny, but really blasphemous...haha. and i thought of two more things i would like...if that little side bag thing of dereks is still at home, id like it, if no one is using it...and velveeta shells and cheese, like the instant stuff....or just mac and cheese, sei lá mas algo assim (I do not know but something) thats quick because i have like no time to eat at night and ive been craving mac and cheese haha. thanks. and i think i finally leveled out on my weight at about 77 kilos...my body just wasnt used to rice and beans i think. but thanks for everything love you all! sorry my times up! gotta go save some souls!

Um Abraço! (a hug)
Elder Bergquist!
ps tell chad atta boy! starting early! keep it up kid!
(Chad gave away a Book of Mormon to a friend at school)

11/12/11

sup pops!
General authority huh? pretty sweet. sounds like the ward slash stake at home is doing pretty good. yeah those hay bails can be pretty intense haha i did that a few times in wyoming. but people say tanner speaks english with an accent? haha its weird speaking english now. i think thats a good sign. sad that eric had to come home, but at least hes gonna be getting back out here ha. mckay got a scholarship for academics? (he is actually getting a scholarship to BYU for swim!) good stuff. haha good ol chad. its the real deal it looks like. i remember the dances in corona haha they were always the best there. i cant believe hes almost 16. crazy. and im preparing to be a safety. i tried and tried to gain weight before the mission. i guess all i needed was rice and beans haha. im like almost 80 kilos. i think its about 170 or 175. im getting there, then i just gotta turn it into muscle when i get back. ill have almost a year to do so. haha but enough about that. there will be plenty of time for that later. right now i want to do what you said, find joy in the work, focus on the people and have no regrets here! i love you pops! até mais! (even more)
Um abração (a big hug)
Elder Bergquist
ps did you tell tanner to write me? i dont have any address for him but i want to hear from him


hey mommy tudo bem? (okay)
welp, lets see. primeiro (first) i should tell you. i am no longer in sabará. i was transferred today back to BH. ala progresso. so yeah, now that im not there any longer, Sabará was a really difficult area. at least for me. i dont know if it was the actual area or if it was being senior comp or what, but it was tough for me. BUT, i learned a ton! and i feel like i improved a lot as a person a christian and a missionary. no i wont be printing the talks. ill wait a few more weeks to read them in the liahona. its all good. and i asked your favorites last week!! not to send me the talks from preieshood haha. let me try again using a more direct question. Mom, knowing that your son will benefit greatly from this, will you tell him in your next email which talks from the conference were your favorites? there. now. let me know haha. but im here in progresso, my new comp is elder nacarado. hes from rio grande do sul. right on the border of uruguay. hes fluent in spanish too ha. and hes 25 too. for your questions:

How are you? im great, really excited for my new area. haha

How was this past week? it was good. we found someone finally in sabara who had desire and marked hers and her sons baptisms and then i left ha. but its all good. it will all work out.

How is the teaching going? the teaching is going well. i think i improved a lot in sabara.

Anyone ready for baptism? in sabara i left virginia and lucas but here theres a father and daughter that are just about ready for baptism this sunday.

Any referals? we had a few in sabara, but well see how it goes here in progresso.

I got the 3 things you want in your package (from last week) but what else can you think of that you would like??? (I need to get it in the mail pretty soon for Christmas!) peanutbutter. haha beef jerky. sei lá. (I don't know)just send what you think id like haha. ask derek and devin what they liked...

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? when we finally put everything in practice and taught a lesson really good. when virginia accepted a date to be baptised. that was a great moment. brought some hope to us ha.

Anything funny happen this week? yeah sempre (always) crazy experiences in sabará. we walked by a guy, completely out of it. not sure if it was alcohol or drugs. anyway, he goes "eu já falei, eu nao sei resar! vai embora!" (i told you i dont know how to "pray (catholic)" go away!" haha we got rejected a lot in sabará, even when we didnt try to talk to the people. we laughed about that for a few days haha.

How is your house/apartment? its fine haha. nothing out of the ordinary. haha

How often do you have district mtg? every week. tuesday morning

zone mtg? every 3 months. which is about once every 2 transfers ha

are you 2 the only missionaries in that whole town? yeah. in the past they had more, but it was just us.

im glad elder vasquez got in contact with you! thats good to hear. sounds like hes doing well. and tanner too. good stuff. anyway. i gotta get going. get settled in in our new house ha. love you mom! blake! get out here man! theres nothing better than the mish. you told mom you wanted to do something with your life. as it says in d&C the thing of most value to you right now is to bring souls to repentance. i love you man. its my greatest desire to see you out here the same time as me! you wont regret it i promise! and chad, sounds like your growing into a bergquist. keep it up! haha love you all!

Um abraço!
Elder Bergquist!

10/5/11 aprendi BASTANTE

To his dad...

yes im working hard, obeying the rules, loving the people, i get along with my comp well, and i feel like weve got the trust of the ward. of course theres ways i can improve in all those areas, but im doing well and improving cada dia (every day). well, sadly no, we didnt have any investigators to be able to watch conference saturday. i was really sad about that. and i didnt get to watch priesthood, that was the saddest of all because, i dont know if i told you but the prieshood session of conference is my favorite meeting in all the church. so i didnt hear elder holland. or packer....i cant wait for the liahona next month! but i liked hearing it in portuguese. the only one was president monson, i love his voice and the faces he makes, its just not quite the same. but other than that i liked the portuguese, considering i didnt hear elder holland, because the translators cant quite project the message the way he does. what did he talk about? what was your favorite from priesthood? and president uchtdorf? thats really sad about BYU. really really sad. Utah state? really?? hopefully they stay this way one more year so i can get on the team the year after haha. and chad really is finally turning into a bergquist! atta boy! anyway thanks for the updates, love ya pops!
Elder Bergquist



Oi avó! (Hi Grandma) GRANDMA!! haha
well i finally picked my team. last night. were teaching a guy that played on this team. CAM Atlético de Minas Gerais. he played on like the AAA team i think, but he was really good, has back problems now, but played against some of the best players in the world today and was one of the best of his época (time). i asked him to sign the jersey for me that he gave me. i told him i hadnt picked a team yet, here in minas there are 3. one is cruzeiro, who EVERYONE and their mom likes, and i dont really like to follow the crowd so i was leaning toward atletico and he told me, are you going to follow atletico? and i said i think so now because of you, and he went and got a jersey out of his room for me. its an original, like 150 reais. hes a really good guy, and hopefully he continues to instigate the gospel, his wife is kinda putting doubts in his head...

How are you? im more than good, im grrrreat! haha

Did you get to go to every session of Conference? no :( só (only) sunday

Which talk did you enjoy the most? Elder DALLIN H. Oaks, also the sunday school general pres about teaching by the spirit, and the one about the book of mormon, i forgot the guys name...

How is the work going? pretty good, im learning alot at least, a lot of different ways to work, because knocking doors here isnt the most effective thing. generally i like to choose the streets when we plan so the Lord knows where we'll be so he can help us, but we dont have a map here so we pick an area and its kinda blind. but im learning how to use all the tools we have as missionaries, so that is good.

It seems like this area is harder for some reason... agree? Dont let it get you down!!! it seems like it, but i dont know if its the area, i hate blaming it on the area. i just try to find the things i can do to melhorar (improve) everyday

Who went to conference with you? ninguem (nobody). once again i dont want to give excuses, but its an hour away and we have to get two buses and nobody went. we had people say they wanted to and one that even said she would meet us there and i called an hour before the session and she said she was getting on the bus, but never showed up. and on sunday in the two sessions our ward only had 3 people that went. 2 in the first and one in the second. it was really sad. our lunch messages have been about the importance of the prophet in our day (needless to say)

Anyone ready for baptism? a few that are, but they wont make the decision to actually do it.

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? in conference. claro! (of course) haha it was really good. aprendi BASTANTE (I learned A LOT). and stuff that will help me on the mission to be a better teacher by the spirit and help people assumir compromissos melhor. (make commitments)

how is everyone at home? chads finally turning into a bergquist! hows weston doing? how was running out of gas with andy? haha what was your favorite talk and why? i need to know which ones to study first when i get the liahona! haha anyway. i love you mom! or should i say GRANDMA!! haha i love ya'll!

Um abraço!
Elder Bergquistps two things. first. a member here wants those scripture sticker things. the like pictures that go with the verses for incentive for people to bring their scriptures to church. he wants a price...i think he wants a good like 20 or thirty but if you could just look on the internet and see the price so i can tell him.

then i want a silver sharpie when you send my package
thanks mommy :) tchau

9/28/11 you cant be saved without spiritual knowledge

To his dad...

well about priesthood session, no we wont be watching it at 9 at night. they replay it at 8 am on sunday, but we can only go to it if we have an instigator with us. same goes for the saturday sessions. so im only guaranteed the sunday sessions. but well be watching all of them if i have anything to with it. ive been looking forward to this for a long time. i absolutely love conference. also, you're definitely right about looking for guidance in my calling. its a great opportunity for that. and as far as i know, they dont have english headphones for use, but i wouldnt be using them
anyway. i want to hear it in portuguese, except maybe elder holland, the translators arent quite the same as him in some of his talks haha. crazy that ariel is already heading out...to japan right?? and jake. im so excited for him! he'll be great. just gotta get chase and layton out there. i wrote the frogs a letter and included a special part for chase haha. sounds like chads finally turning into a bergquist. the only thing chad screwed up on is getting his eagle before he was 18 hahah jk. thats sweet he already got it done. (Dallin and his older brothers all got their Eagle Scout JUST before they turned 18, Chad got his last week! He is still 15, he will be 16 next month) gotta go. love ya pops. tchau.
Um abração!
Elder Bergquist

Bom dia mãe!
first of all, i hate that i haent seen weston yet. it seriously makes me mad. especially seeing him grow up like this. but its all good ...one day, and one day ill get to see a nephew of mine from the start, and then even better a son of mine haha, but thats a long way off. anyway...im glad you enjoy my emails. i try to keep them interesting and good, but i wont lie, you probably wont like this weeks too much. im not really in the mood to sit at the computer today haha. we have a lot of stuff to do still and its already 1 oclock. did devin and jeff catch slash photograph anything cool? send some pics. or tell him to! (His brother, Devin and his cousin, Jeff love to go herping, they just took a trip to AZ to herp this past week, Dallin has grown to really enjoy herping too, so he wanted pics of what they caught) i havent heard from any of my siblings in a while.... im jealous of blake too, on a soccer team. i miss playing sports. (His mission president doesn't allow them to play sports on P-day) i walk by kids playing soccer everyday. once in a while i call for them to pass me the ball and i get to pass it back, but thats about it for me here haha. its rough stuff. and tanner...i cant believe hes already coming home...i feel like i left a couple months after him but it was over a year. weird. but the time is flying. i already have nine months. people say its bad to count, but i do it sometimes, because just like chad said about the x-country thing, you gotta sprint at the end. and as i see the time passing it makes me want to work harder and harder. but tell tanner when you see him to write me, because i dont have his address there, and i want to hear from him about the mish and all. alright agora, as perguntas.

Did the family of 4 come to church again? no :/

Tell me about your talk.... i spoke on revelation. personal revelation mainly, but at the end talked a bit about prophets seeing as we have general conf this weekend. i spoke for about 15 minutes and had a lot more that i didnt share but i was only planned for 10. but the guy that spoke after me (from the stake) didnt prepare a talk, just got up there and talked about....bistera. sei lá. he talked about one time when a mission pres went to a ward and had women blessing the sacrament...and he didnt relate it to anything...i dont know why he talked about that haha it was interesting. as i heard a few time before the mish...the church is still true in brasil, just a little less than in the states hahah. oh and the second councilor in the bishopric told me this week that i have hardly any accent. it made me really happy. so according to that, it seems like the people are understanding pretty well

I can't believe some lady threw rocks at you! Does that kind of thing happen often? ive never heard of it happening to anyone in this mission...the first time its happened to me...ha

How is the work going? its going....we're trying to figure out whats faulting to really bring God's children to receive the blessing but nobody we have found here in sabará has wanted the blessings bad enough to make a change.

Anyone ready for baptism? not at the moment... :(

How is your companion? hes doing just great haha...he said "bien" haha

Are you having to take money out of your account for bus trips or food? no. not anymore. i took out a lot in my first area and got all the reimbursements. so i havent had to take any out since then...but i took a lot out there haha

Tell me something about your week! i already told you a lot ha

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? writing my talk i felt like i had a lot of guidance and learned a lot. probably studying about that. i learned that you cant learn spiritual truths and hold on them without personal revelation and you cant be saved without spiritual knowledge "man cant be saved in ignorance" "this is life eternal, to thee the only true God and Jesus Christ" so personal revelation = eternal life

Have you taken any pics of your house? no not yet. ive been taking them though, dont worry, you'll get to see all my houses when i get home haha.
Love you mom!
love you all!
Um abraço,
Elder Bergquist

9/21/11 its only through making commitments, or covenants that they can receive the blessings and salvation

haha comedy, elder huntsman. i will look for him. havent met him yet. (Brad just found out that one of his friends from high school also has a son serving in Belo Horizonte!) but i did have an elder huntman in my district in wyoming haha. BYU is stupid. i think im gonna transfer to Utah when i get home. haha jk. but they do suck at football. why did kathy have mom read my story? did it have anything to do with the lesson? haha that was a really cool experience though. its just sad that nobody wants to make commitments here. were getting people to church, and FAMILIES too which is really cool and rare, but everyone is scared of commitment. and its only through making commitments, or covenants that they can receive the blessings and salvation which is really sad. i think im going to start being more blunt on that topic, i am sometimes, but not real often. coles papers are in?? sweet! good to hear. (My hubby and some other Young Men leaders took the Priests to Conference a few years ago and Brad was telling him that they have all gone on missions etc... I am going to post a pic of them at the end of this email) let me know what happens. and do you know about justin too? i told him he needed to go a few times, but we kinda lost contact. (he and his family moved) the only one that didnt go is eric, but he is married in the temple which is really good too! haha anyway, ill share more in moms email. love ya pops. or should i say bishop pops.
Elder Bergquist
Cole(papers are in, waiting to hear), Justin (moved), Brennen (North Carolina), Ricky (Honduras), Sam (Portugal), Collin (Alabama), Dallin (Brasil), Kyle (Columbia), Mike (Florida), Tanner (Brasil), Eric (convert and married in the temple!) The 1st young man is who they were talking about whose papers are in! WE ARE PROUD OF OUR YOUNG MEN!

Mamãe! como vai?
you say everything is boring and then write a letter like 8 pages long haha. doida. so, just for future reference, dont ever send a picture with anything related to u of u again mmka? and you can go ahead and tell devin and diana that they are disowned. tell them that the scriptures say to raise our kids in righteousness and show them the right way... i know hes not born yet, but uhh...looks like theyve already gone wrong. aimee knows where its at. (FYI, he is referring to the BYU U of U game... Dallin is on scholorship to BYU and his brother attends U of U and his wife is pregnant and they took this picture and said "Baby is a Utes fan" hahaha)

tanner comes home this week no? (Tanner is one of Dallin's best friends, he actually comes home in 8 day! He is serving in Rio!)

So, your ward signs up to go on splits with you guys? yes

Do they sign up to feed you? yes

Is the food the same in every area you've been in? yes haha. pretty much, its rice beans and some kind of meat and sometimes other things to go along with it.

Do you have anyone ready for baptism? not at the moment no.

Who are you teaching? everybody we can ha. i dont know if its me or what it is, but nobody we teach can make a commitment to save their life. literally, their spiritual life. its really sad, were working on improving a lot to make sure its not our fault that they arent understanding or something. but the work has been a little hard for that reason

What are the stats that you have to turn in every week? stats? haha baptisms, confirmations, people in church, progressing, with baptismal date, references, lessons with members, other lessons, new investigators and maybe a couple more. i cant remember if i missed any, but if you look in the planners that i sent home it has the weekly report thing, just dont judge me. haha

How many lessons did you teach this week? i dont remember, somewhere around 30

How many of them will you be going back to teach again? 1 ha. were only aloud to go back if: they go to church, or have a baptismal date.

Did you have any investigators at church? yeah we had a FAMILY! 4 people. come to find out, the parents arent married :( so they couldnt get baptized, but they say theyre going to start on their marriage papers

What book are you reading now? i just finished the book of mormon. im reading our search for happiness and studying the Doctrine and Covenants

How big is your ward? on the papers i think its about 200, in church its about 75 on average

How did your talk go? its this week

What was your topic? i think im gonna speak on revelation and talk about preparing for conference

How are you feeling with the language now? pretty good. its weird, a lot of times i say words that i dont even know i know, but they come out and make sense, i guess from reading and hearing other people say them, idk my bff jill

Anything funny happen this week? just that some lady threw rocks at us. no big deal. oh and when i say rocks, im not talking pebbles, like bigger than a softball. she was chuckin them and pushed my comp. its kinda sad how ignorant some people are, but dont worry, we went by the next day and left a pamphlet in her mailbox. shell be baptized soon, hahah

When did you feel the Spirit this week? im feeling the spirit a lot in my study. its true that we should feast upon the word. im learning that the more i study the more i want to study and learn more and unfold the mysteries of God. an hour before the mission to study was forever, now when the hour ends i always want to study more ha

What are you learning? a lot of things haha. everything. learning a lot about the language, and how its important to study constantly and keep learning new things. its impossible to be saved in ignorance.
anyway, gotta go. love you all. especially you mom!
um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

Here are the pictures he sent this week... I have no idea why he is taking pics of the Catholic churches, maybe he thinks they look cool.... haha



Silly boy... doesn't he know we want HIM in the pictures??!!!

9/14/11 Same Power today as in times of Old!

you can see one or two of the huge catholic churches i think. theres like 5 of them that size and its kind of a tourist city because of how old it is. one of the catholic churches just has 2 of the walls left and its like a tourist site now.




a pic of fat me. wow. kinda ridiculous how much weight ive gained. (I am going to use this picture for his plaque!)
guilherme's baptism. his mom is a member and shes getting married to this guy and then we'll baptise him too

me and elder martinez

Olá gente!
how is everybody?? im doing greeat here. first before i forget. use the scripture Devin and Derek both have on their plaques, or if thats too dumb (im not really sure, i kinda lost my regular judgement skills being a missionary in another country, but i do like tradition and i know i like that scripture) or use D&C 35:13,15. i hope everyone is doing well! you said something about sending pics of di, but i didnt see any anywhere, and whats up with chads curly hair. hes got a fro and its super dark. weird. it reminds me of mikey spaletas hair when we were young, just gotta bleach the tips haha. other than that, to answer some of dads questions, BYU is stupid when it comes to football, thats the only answer to that haha and my district is 8 missionaries. 2 of which are argetines. kinda weird to have people from other countries besides brasil and the us. and my LD and LZ are both american. last time i saw the assistants they were american. maybe one was brasilian, i cant remember. and i think we have interviews with pres at the end of this transfer. i didnt have mine last time because i was 6 hours away from BH. right now were about 40 minutes from BH on bus. and now for moms questions

How do you like your new area? its really pretty, lots of hills to hike haha and with the afternoon sun its not the grrreatest, but i need to lose weight so its all good hahaha. and being a city that i guess just had its 300th birthday its very catholic, but were still finding a lot of people that are willing to hear the message of the restoration

How do you like your new companion? i like him a lot ha. hes a singer, like semi professional, you can look him up on myspace lucianoemanuel. hes really good so thats cool ha. he teaches really well despite the fact that half of it is in spanish still haha theyre so similar that he forgets to translate or change the words to portuguese haha.

Tell us about him! oh and hes 25 years old ha.

How is your new ward? theyre really good. really good with missionary work. they do like we did in our ward with the missionaries. they give a us a few minutes in priesthood to mark days and times to go out with the members. like 3 a week on average.

Do the members take care of you/feed you? yeah were doing just fine.

Do you have anyone ready for baptism? not at the moment

How many lessons did you teach this week? i dont remember, around 30

Did the last Elders leave you a list to go see/teach? just Guilherme (they baptized him, see pic above), Weder (who they baptised but still needs to be confirmed, but fell back into smoking) and one other kid that we never found at home.

Did you do any tracting? nope. none. haha yes! thats pretty much all we do. this ward is pretty good with references though too.

Referrals? see above. haha weve taught like 4 reference families so far, none have accepted baptism yet though.

Did you find any new people to teach? everyday hahaa

I have been meaning to ask you... do you have blisters? right now no. im doing pretty good.

How are your socks? Need more? nope i still have like 2 packs that arent opened yet.

Did you get the pic of Diana last week? (she is due Dec. 17th) nope

Did you pick a scripture for your plaque? yup

Did you take another pic for me? yup

Did you bare your testimony Sunday? yup. obvio. haha and i have a talk on the 25th. my comp spoke last week. but at least this time i have a bit of warning to prepare unlike in alfenas where i would find out 3 minutes before hand haha

When did you feel the Spirit leading you or teaching you this week? oh man. this is a good one. you might wanna fasten your seat belts haha. so we went out with the second councilor of the ward. he told us hed have a reference, but didnt, so we hadnt planned, so we went in the church and said a prayer. he asked that we could find a family that would accept us and that wed be able to bare testimony of the experience later on. (a goal of this ward is to baptise a family of 5 before december) so we walked out of the church and we started walking toward the street that came to mind, when we saw a recent convert walking by so we talked to her. she was going to the hospital to be with her dad. we went with to give a blessing and on the way Jefferson (2nd councilor) said were going to visit my friend at this house afterward. so we came back after the hospital and they let us in. (theres your story of guidance haha) then we started teaching this family. Jeffersons friend and 3 of his sisters and a daughter. while joão's (joão is jeff's friend) drunk brother babbled to himself in the other room. as we came to the end of the great apostasy and were about to start talking about the restoration, the drunk comes in and starts asking questions and yelling and getting mad and smoking. possessed by something, he tried to interrupt before we could get to the restoration. the same as satan tried to do that spring morning in 1820. he knows the power and spirit that go along with the restoration of the priesthood and church of Christ. so after about a 5 minute intermission in the lesson, as soon as i saw an opening in his babbling i jumped in and started talking about the restoration. he was still talking so i had to talk over him for most of the time. but the second i started in with "vi um pilar de luz...." he went silent. i saw his face in the corner of my vision, his mouth snapped shut, and then his lips started moving, but nothing came out. he couldnt speak. or should i say, the spirit that possessed him couldnt make him speak. just as satan fled on that spring morning, this evil spirit was bound by the power of the the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith. but the second i finished with the first vision, he started in again and we had to talk over him. it was a very very powerful testimony to me of the truthfulness of the restoration. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet, and i know the Lords missionaries still have power over evil spirits just as the apostles of old. Satan has no power compared to the power of God. I love this work and i love you guys. until next week.
Um abraço,
Elder Bergquist