7/25/12 the GOSPEL CHANGES LIVES!!!

pops. the olympics!! nossa! i forgot about that haha. it starts this week? the us is killin in bball? i like this new kid on the angels ha. good stuff and thanks for the package. you guys are like pullin a bourne identity, i dont think theres gonna be that big of a problem, but i guess its better safe then sorry right haha. weird that everybody was out there on rickys driveway. the good ol days. everyone is at home without anything to do then it sounds like haha. you guys excited for the reunion? weird the time is flying. it seems like you went to the other reunion last week! dont you worry about it dad. im gonna leave everything on the field. im a Bergquist haha and when you use terms like that that make me think of sports it makes me want it more hahaa. when i had my interview with President Fortunato he asked about how i am, or was before the mission, whats my family like. i just said well were five brothers, a basketball team, or a team of any other sport haha we all love to play sports and he was like okay! haha and went on to the next question. haha it was funny. i love the mish! i know it is the work of the lord and theres nothing else id rather be doing right now! i know the church is true and this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! love ya pops!
um grande abraço! (a big hug)
Elder Bergquist

hey momma. how are things?? you didnt tell me the same stories dont worry. and even when you do its good to get two views on it. like the 4 gospels haha its pretty much all the same story but its good to have more testimonies né? by the mouth of two or three witnesses! Que bênção!! chase got reassigned to boise!! que bencao!! but hes not in his ward right?? nossa mãe. ta louco.(his cousin was called to serve in Peru but his visa has not come in and he was temporarily assigned to serve in Boise - his home town - until his visa comes) chad went with ricky tanner and mike to jamba em? good to hear their treating him well haha i think our friendship (chad and i) will be different when i get back hahaaha. i cant believe hes 16 now...? right haha hes about to turn 17 huh?? nossa! layton bought a car? for what?? hes gotta put that money in the mission fund?? is he still dating that girl?? im still praying for derek and devin to get those jobs, and for all of you! i dont know if you can send video but you can try. but the pictures didnt even work so good luck haha. yeah i think today was transfers, but im still here. i didnt hear anything. only one missionary in our whole zone is being switched and thats because he finished his mission haha so im still here with elder carneiro. danielle and amanda are progressing for their baptism sunday! Danielle is super excited. in her prayer the other day she asked for strength and help to be able to fulfill the most important commandment on sunday being baptized. it was really cool. i felt the spirit real strong. she has changed so much in the last week its amazing. the first days we saw her she was really down and like without hope, but now shes always smiling and laughing with us and full of hope. its really cool. and even her husband, who refuses to hear us, is changing, we can see it even from afar.  hes helping more with the kids and hes at home more....the GOSPEL CHANGES LIVES!!! QUE BÊNÇÃO!!!!  amo o evangelho de Jesus Cristo (I love the gospel of Jesus Christ), and i know it can change all of us if we'll let it. i pray that we can all near ourselves to the Lord through the simple things so that we can see the big changes it makes in our lives! love you all!!
um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

Here are a few pics he sent this week... some are similar to the ones he has sent before...

7/18/12 The Spirit fills people with hope!

HAHAHA yeah, i bet mom loved it! (he is responding to the family reunion and all the rain, our tent got wet and my sleeping bag too!) haha but yeah i did sleep out there with them in the tent. its a really vague memory, but i do remember. i remember knocking on the trailer door. i think they sent me out in the rain. haha but i dont remember it well. i must have been like 6 or so haha good times. (one year their sleeping bags were soaked, they were in a puddle) sounds like your missing your golf coach huh?? hahah. i never was the best, but i always helped you to be hahah.i wanna see that video! but i doubt youll be able to get it to me through email.... but try it haha (Uncle Lane videoed Chad shooting his uzzi) sounds like sports are still going well too. good to hear! whats this about the starters kobe cp3 lebron tyson chandler...? olympic team or something? ha sei la. and i dont know the name and number and everything of my camera...i think i left the box at home...it just says finepix jx and its fujifilm...good luck haha the battery says fujifilm lithium ion battery pack NP-45A 3.7V typ. 720mAh min.700mAh 2.6Wh you can probably figure it out with that haha love you pops! you'll hear more about pres in moms email! tchau!

 hey mom!

yeah i meant to tell you that last week. she told us she was gonna start a facebook. that was the get to know the pres conference. it was i think 3 zones...? and pres told me to tell you that hes thankful for the woman you are, and for the sacrifice you made sending me here on a mish, and hes really grateful for the son you sent to the mission. AND I AM TOO!!!! thanks a ton mom! love you. AND DAD TOO!! thanks! 

tell derek thanks for snagging a switchblade for me haha. how was the report on me? what did you tell them? (at the family reunion during church they had the missionary moms report on their missionary)  One of your friend's daughters wrote me, her name is kiera davis, do you know her?? and my debit card, no i dont use it much but this week we were broke because we went to BH a couple times in a row and its like 25 bucks each bus ride....so we ran out of money haha, but now we got our reimbursements a little so i'll be good....hakuna matata

How was your week? wonderful

Anyone ready for baptism? this week, not yet but we found a good family for the 29th!

Why is your zone not doing so well? i dunno, but we had a training this week with pres and the assistants and we learned a ton because its a new vision and its like an outside vision because he hasnt been here to see all thats been happening. so it was really good! its gonna get better now! hes a really inspired man!

How often do you meet with them? my zone? well we have district meetings each week and we try to switch it up to be able to go to all of them. then we meet once every 3 months for zone conference in bh. but we talk every night with the ld's to see whats going on...

When did you feel the spirit the strongest? in the training we learned a lot about love and gratidao and learned how to demonstrate to the people, member and nonmembers alike...then we had a division with the assistants for a couple hours and learned some more, and we left there to teach a family we had marked an appointment with and we put in in practice and they accepted a date for the 29th. shes a mom having trouble in her marriage and has 4 kids 16, 14, 5, and 4 so its pretty tough for her and she loved the church, we took her on a tour, and loved the message and shes already looking happier. the spirit fills people with hope! anyway i gotta get going! enjoy the pictures!! 

your best son, hah

Elder Bergquist!!

His camera battery is not charging any more so he sent me the pics from his comp's camera, I kind of like it this way, I get more pics!  haha.... 

7/13/12 Facebook!

I am sooooooooooooooo excited, Dallin's new Mission President's wife has set up a facebook account.  You can go HERE to look at it.... She has put pictures up and plans on adding more as they have activities/conferences etc!

Here are a few of the pictures she posted...

7/11/12 "when we bare our testimonies they will hear the echo of many other testimonies from the council in heaven including their own that Jesus is the Christ" (Elder Holland -missionary work and the atonement)

wooohooo!! steve nash! what a deal eh? haha im excited for that one. sounds like it will be an adventure getting to the reunion. doesnt sound like you, driving through the night ha. i think my daddy's gone crazy. haha sounds like the angels are just going up. good to hear too. i think im gonna like this mike trout kid. i love players like him haha. tell them to get the audio Book of Mormon for him and to read with him too! and make sure hes praying to have a testimony! dont use the word answer or response hahaa thats one thing ive seen on my mish that misleads people. they will receive a TESTIMONY, not a response! (His dad was telling him about a man that our sister missionaries are teaching that has a hard time reading English) the mission continues the same. the only thing that has changed is that he (the new mission pres.) wants us working much closer with the leadership of the church. the bishops and us LZs he wants to have a meeting once a month with the stake presidents too to involve the members more. im here in conselheiro lafaiete. ask derek about pronunciation hahah. its a city about the size of mo val and theres two large branches. the work is going real well, its a hilly little town full of catholics but were finding the Lords elect children!!! hes preparing them everywhere! we walk everywhere. and the new president is a grande homem de fé! (great man of faith!) im really grateful for the mission, ive grown much closer to my savior and much more appreciation for you guys! my family! this gospel makes a huge difference in family relationships. i know we can all have a reunion just like the one you guys are gonna be at one day in the celestial kingdom without a doubt of who will be presiding! God the Father. I pray that we can all do our part to one day have that reunion with nobody missing!! love you all!
Elder Bergquist

Mommy!
before anything else so i dont forget. they asked for a brownie recipe! for some reason that doesnt look like brownies! (He told me last week that someone wanted a cookie and brownie recipe, I was out of town and only knew a cookie recipe off the top of my head) haha but thanks. ill give them that one too. my camera is a fuji camera. i think the box is still at home. probably in my room. or at least it was haha 

sei la agora...and her name is keira rochelle...? (a girl that wrote him that he doesnt know and he asked about last week) tell Kaitlin i agree with the prophets! haha if she has the desire its a great thing for her! she'll grow and learn like she never thought possible! haha and tell chad not to fall too deep in the electronics thing of texting haha and for him to line up some dates for us with these girls and their older sisters hahaha! (Chad went to EFY last week) oh and my credit card expired!!! not really sure what to do about that, but im gonna need some help in case of emergency....ha

Okay, one more time... lol, the drinks that I sent you last time from Target, were they in boxes, bottles, or was it just the powder that you add to water bottles?  I honestly cannot remember.... they were just the powder haha dont send bottled drinks please haha no need to waste the space

Your camera... is it just the battery or is the camera broken? its just the battery, but sometimes the batteries are really expensive. voces que sabem...

I am trying to decide whether to teach the Book of Mormon or the New Testament next fall, what do you think?  they let you pick? idk theyre both real good. but i think the Book of Mormon is better hahaha "the most correct of all the books on earth..."

How was your week? wonderful!

How many lessons did you have this week? like 33 i think...? dont remember

Anyone ready for baptism? theres a little girl, friend of a member, we taught her family but they didnt all accept, it looks like shes gonna be going with the other family to church for now until her family decides to follow the true church. shes 12...and she wants to baptized real bad, she was like begging her dad 

 

How is your zone doing? pretty crappy to tell the truth. ha but its getting better

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? in the "get to know the president and family" meeting, it was super good. a few things that got my attention. sister fortunato talked about her conversion at 13 years old and how when she learned about the plan of salvation it just seemed like they were reminding her of something she already knew but had forgotten. I thought about that and all these people already have a testimony that the church is true and the gospel is restored, they just forgot when they went through the veil. its our job to remind them and "when we bare our testimonies they will hear the echo of many other testimonies from the council in heaven including their own that Jesus is the Christ" (Elder Holland -missionary work and the atonement, a super amazing talk!!) and how we dont understand the power that we have as missionaries. President Fortunato talked a lot about that and how we need to trust in this power because its much greater than we imagine!! and he  talked about how he doesnt think its possible for someone to hear the restored gospel and not accept it, when its taught with power. i thought a lot about Ammon teaching the king of all the laminates! he tried to kill him for converting his son, but because of the power of God he too was converted. Thats POWER! haha anyway, i know God loves us and guides us through His prophet Thomas S Monson! and he has power! he wants us all to go back to his presence! lets do our part to get there! ill be praying for you all! love you all!
Elder Bergquist

ps  tell kaitlin "thats whats up. its about following the spirit. everything else will work out." and who knows maybe shell do like kelsey ball and get engaged! i was a little worried about getting a job after the mission, but i know its not the time to worry about that, so ill leave it to the Lord! TCHAU!

7/4/12 i felt so much confidence i wanted to be better and im trying to pass that to the missionaries in the zone!

hey pops. well my new president is president fortunato. hes a great guy. way different from president parrella. they are both wonderful servants of God, but have qualities that are way different. hes super spiritual, and trusts the missionaries A LOT. i just hope the missionaries can live up to that, because we had a president that didnt allow much because of the fubecagem (messing around) that there was when he got on the mission. so well see if there will be changes, but as of now, nothing changed yet. except for that the next zone leader council will be at his house and his wife is gonna make lunch for us instead of at the church with pizza after.... ha thats the only change so far. he seems like a great guy with a HUGE faith. he saved a few wards already from like 30 members going to like 200... he knows how to retain the members too, which is something they really need help with here in minas...its lookin good.

sounds like dereks clubs are pretty sweet but i dont know which ones they are, are they callaways....? haha whats the brand of his?

and thats crazy, i just got a letter from kaitlin and she told me she wasnt feeling like a mission was the right thing, at least not yet haha. crazy how the Lord works. she will be a great missionary.

sounds like the angels are doing well still. tell them i said to keep it up! haha love you guys! did anyone get a hole in one for me last week? haha tchau!
Elder Bergquist