3/28/12 She prayed for the Blondies :)

hey pops
well sounds like grandpa and grandma are going to have a great time. (They are leaving for a mission in Nauvoo) i cant even imagine him with an ipad haha. good stuff. that will be a good day, going to priesthood all together with the wives at home making dinner, enough rejoicing, haha back to reality. im super excited too for this weekend i love conference weekend!! well i just got transferred but ill talk about that in the email to mom, but thats crazy about the dodgers thing. what a deal. tiger won!? wow. crazy! well sounds like the sports world is boring. but i cant believe you. you didnt say one word about the lakers....how are they doing?? anyway gotta run! tchau!

Elder Bergquist

hey mom!!

no, i havent gotten any pictures....well thats interesting about tawilly chatting with kaitlin... how exactly did they have a conversation?? haha thats cool though, good to hear, except that last i heard she hasnt been to church in a while, tell kaitlin to fix that haha. thanks.

I THINK this week is transfers, are you and your comp staying there together?? nope!! i am here in 7 lagoas. i am training a new elder from rio grande do sul and living with the other LZ and his trainee...ha its going to be kinda crazy
Here is a picture of 7 lagoas I found on wickipedia...

How was this past week? it was really good. wonderful

Did you guys baptize Kenya? no :( she went to church, but like i told you she was sick, so she passou mal at church and the bishop took her home. but shes going to be baptized saturday after conference

What about Josenilto? his family didnt let him continue :(

How about Jo? shes SUPER excited! and her two younger daughters too. but shes not married. her other older daughter went to church too and the three of them can get baptized this week.

How many people are in your teaching pool? well i dont really know anymore....we got here today and came straight to the house....

Any ready for baptism? it looks like it. they said they have 5 here....we'll see!! :)

How many investigators were at church this week? 6 ha mostly jos family and friends ha

Are you getting excited for conference?? Extremely!

Will you get to go to all 5 sessions this time? doubt it. priesthood is tough...weve gotta have a investigator there and its at 6 am....so hes gotta wake up at 5. but ive got faith we'll find someone willing and ready to go!!

Did you buy some new shoes? not yet

well i wanted to tell you one story, well maybe two...well see.

jo and her family were super happy, every time we went there they would thank us because she stopped drinking. her daughters pray everyday thanking heavenly father for that. and they all love the church. anyway, so, because of pres, almost all of the missionaries say Que bênção (what a blessing) all the time. and joice (jos daughter) started saying it too haha. but when we told them we were going to be transferred they all started crying and joice goes "sem bencao" haha it was soo funny the way she said it. but i showed the our family pic too and depois (after) the lesson that day rayane (the other daughter) prayed for every one of you guys. "the blondies" as she said haha. my dad, and mom and brothers and sisters in law haha it was great. i love that family! anyway, thats all for this week! love you all! figure out the problem with the pics please and i promise ill send some next week!

um abraço!

Elder Bergquist

3/21/12 small and simple things

hey everybody!!

What a rip off of an email!! no pictures, and its like three lines long. i dont even feel like writing back....hahah jk...kinda... alright ill go straight to the questions entao... (He is totally exaggerating and I sent him 2 emails with pictures, I guess he didn't get them)

How was your week? extremamente boa. (extremely good)

How many investigators did you have at church on Sunday? 7...things are looking up a bit here haha

Anyone ready for baptism? yeah. Kenya! shes super excited for her baptism! and we have another too but his families trying to talk him out of it...well no, not talk...like scream and kick and cry him out of it haha. we cant go to his house anymore...and the church is like 40 minutes by foot from his house so its gonna be kinda tough to teach him...we'll see what happens...were praying a ton to figure out a way to get him baptized into the true church...his mom dad aunts uncles grandparents, everyone (they all live in the same house) are Methodists...his grandma is the one that wont let us go there anymore because its her house and they live there just because she lets them live there for free...

Did you guys have a time change? What time is there there RIGHT now? yeah. i forgot to ask you guys about that. it was in the end of february. its 1:53.... (so we are only 4 hours different now, not 6!)

How are your shoes holding up? terribly haha im gonna buy some new ones either today or next week haha (I feel bad, he took 3 new pair with him when he went! But, they DO walk a lot!)

Are you able to see all the referrals you get each week? no! haha were getting so many now its kinda ridiculous, but almost all of them...

Tell me about how you and your companion taught "differently"??? he is super happy and teaches like that showing them how happy you can be living the gospel...i teach more serious like teaching people how serious it is because its their salvation...not that im not happy but..haha idk thats the best i can do to describe it...

What did you learn from him? (I am sure he learned from you too!!) how to be more excited...haha i dunno....

Do you still have 2 baptisms set for the 25th? yeah but...we'll see about josenilto....

Do you dream in Portuguese? yeah...i think so...its been a while since ive remembered a dream, and when i do i usually dont remember anyone talking, but last night it was...haha

What all do you guys do on Pday? clean, sleep, email, eat, study, shop. ha só

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this past week? two times that i can remember real clearly. with Kenia, since the first day she has been talking about how she wants to get along better with her sisters and forgive them....she talks about it like everyday...so when we got there last night she goes "consegui. minha irma esta falando comingo de novo. Consegui perdoar ela." (I did. My sister is talking to me again, I was able to forgive her) it was really cool, because we had thought about teaching her about forgiveness after the plan of salvation...but we didnt even have to teach her, just learning about the gospel of Jesus Cristo and living it and the simple things she learned what she needed through revelation from the holy ghost. My testimony of the first principles of the gospel grew a lot. sometimes we complicate things way too much in the church. (especially in the states haha) and we forget to do the small and simple things like grow our faith each day reading the scriptures and praying, repent daily, and take the sacrament. Thats all we need.
the other one was with the same lady i talked about last week. Jô. she has a pretty screwed up family and home but it started to get better when she started to cumprir compromissos (meet commitments). but the her 'pastora" went to her house and told her she didnt need to change churches and she told us she didnt want to get baptized anymore but she had already promised to go to church so she went. we went back and she told us that that was the church she wanted to go to, forever (a lds) she hads a really good experience. love this church! love the Gospel love Christ! times up! tchau!
Elder Bergquist

ps sorry dad!
pss tell Ricky and Jake that i can't read or write them emails, tell them to write me and send me their addresses!

3/14/12 the restored gospel can shape us into somethine we never imagined!

sounds like you guys are having a good time. did they already go back to utah? (Devin, Diana and Krew are here visiting) what ever happened to layton? is he still there in cali? is jeffs gun real? like is it really a .223 or is it like a 22 or something? haha just work on the plane of your stroke (golf) hahaha jk...kinda. its kinda hard to give pointers without seeing. i dont even remember what makes a person hook the ball haha. devin is the man. i was kinda mad when his record got broken.... (Devin held the school record for pole vaulting and he was up coaching the kids yesterday) ideas for you to speak on? youre the bishop! haha missionary work! on this side of the veil or the other (aka temple frequency). the BYU game sounds like it went well...and the Laker game too. and dont worry i know its not for lack of interest...your probably more interested in the work que ela, shes just more interested in me. hahah but its going well... (Brad was telling him that he is not asking questions because he knows I do, that it was not because he is not interested) Im loving every minute of it. love you guys. Tchau!
Elder Bergquist

Hey momma. well. i sent you some pics his week. sorry i forgot my camera the last couple weeks things have been crazy. i have so many things to think about haha. well ill answer your question first....

How are you? extremamente animado (extremely excited) as pres parrella always says haha

We didn't get any pics the last few weeks... ;( You said you were at the mission home talking to the MP... what about? i didnt talk to him...well a little, but it was more my comp that had scheduled to talk to him...ha

Have you had lots of headaches on the mission? no...normal. de vez em quando (once in a while) ...just when i dont drink enough water...

Tell us about how you interviewed the deaf lady... did you write down the questions and did she write her answers? (you never give us any details!!l) well, she didnt know how to write...so yeah i wrote, she read, and signed to me...it was interesting, but i got the jest of it...haha and this week i interviewed another. i think it was her sister. she knew how to write a little...but not very much...it was still mostly signing haha. but the Lord helps us with the gift of "tongues" haha

How are the referrals coming a long? pretty good, were knocking a lot less doors. we received 25 references last week and this week already like 20. its crazy how much a little thing like that can change the whole mission ha

How often do you have zone leaders conference? the beginning of every month to talk about the past month, goals and how we can improve for the next one....and set goals for each zone for each month

How is the teaching going? pretty good. were getting the hang of it. it was a little different because were both used to being senior comp and have very different ways to teach, but were starting to get the hang of each other haha

How many are you working with for baptism? well weve got two more husbands of members that we'll be visiting this week and two more that have a date for day 25 and a bounch of others that weve got metas (goals) for them to get married and baptized...

How did it go with Jackson? Did he get baptized? no...he decided he didnt want to stop drinking... :(

Who else are you working with? lots of children of God, but Ill let you know when theyre closer to getting baptized ha

Does the ward mission leader help you guys out much? not a whole lot. ha but yeah
When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? well last night we talked to a lady that lives in a house about as big as our front room, she invited us in without saying a word, she has 3 daughters and her husband beats her and she drinks everyday and her kids always tell her, you wont even get to see us grow up if you keep going like this, so she decided she needed to look for a church, and we showed up. but even with all these problems she has shes always smiling and happy. i realized that a lot of times we take things for granted and complain about little problems we have and dont think about all the other people that would be stoked if they had what we have. my mission has changed a lot of people. I am really grateful for being able to help so many people and for the Lord always guiding me to their homes. i love this work and seeing so many lives being changed. Including my own. I havent just changed the language that i speak, but the one i think too. and not just the language, but the way i think, each person i see i think of how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ could help them. we are very blessed to be members of the body of Christ in his only true Church. I love my brothers and sisters, whether they be here in Brasil, there in the States or whatever other place in the universe. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he atoned for each and every one of them. I know that God the Father lives and loves us and wants to shape each and every one of us into something we never imagined we could be, that each of us can seek to become that something greater that he wants us to be and always look to share this marvellous gospel! love you all! tchau!
Um abraço!
Elder Bergquist

this is Flávio, Ágata, e Gabriel. Flávio is super excited. they will be going to the temple in a year.

Gabriel always wants me to hold him everytime we go there, and sometimes he starts crying because i dont take him from his mom or his grandma haha. And Pedro is the kid thats holding him in the picture. hes a good kid. he reminds me a lot of layton, his sense of humor and stuff haha. and then i put a picture of the scripture cover i made for my bible thats falling apart. made of a cereal box tape and liahonas haha i havent found anyone to make one of those cool leather ones for me yet haha

3/7/12 in interviewed a deaf lady! what a blessing!!!

first of all pops. in this mission its sem moleza (no cakewalk)!!! we teach just as much as ever. the only difference from being LD is that the baptismal interviews are a little more spread out, and we have council of LZs at the beginning of the month. other than that. its the same thing, just that we call our LDs at night instead of all the areas...so fica tranquilo (it's quiet), im not losing that much time ha. the golf standings look like trash, but it sounds like the americans are playing like trash too...sei la, i never really followed golf. i just liked tiger and like the presidents cup ha. and kobe is still the man. he always will be. i went on a division with Elder Oaks. sadly, no, not the apostle...haha but things are going really good here. loving it, just as much as ever! love you!

Elder Bergquist

oi mommy.

well, the worst news is...im in the escritorio (office)....and my camera is in my area....we are talking to pres. so i didnt grab my camera! sorry!!! :/

Well, how are you??? extremamente animado! (extremely excited)

How hot is it? today, its nice. like 75. ha but normally its like 90-95

Are you getting tan? ha. no not really. im like the same color that i was back at home but just from the neck up and the elbows down. hahhaha

Are you breaking out? what kind of question is that?? haha im a man...haha

How do you like the pack that Derek used? Are you using it all the time now? its good. i like it. not ALL the time, but most of the time...i switch it around...

What new happened this week? i interviewed a deaf lady! que bênção (what a blessing)!!! haha it was pretty cool.

How is the teaching going? pretty good...were getting better everyday...

The tracting? good, were working a lot more with references now...president told us to and promised us that we would baptize a lot if we do. so we are haha

Are there a lot of hills in your area? no not really. this is one of the flatter areas ive had...

Baptisms? were working on it...weve got a few that we working with....one that would for sure, but he is in a little trouble with the law from stuff the past....

How are you motivating your zone? ummm....its more counselling...they better be motivated already, if not, we send them to pres. hahah sem moleza!!

Someone on the missionary mom's list mentioned something about a "zone leaders counsel", did you go to that? yeah. it was monday...and leadership yesterday.! good stuff! we studied about faith and hope...my comp and i had already planned to study about that. it was really good

So, both you and your comp are LZ? yeah, thats how it works

What kinds of fruit do they have? Which ones do you like? all of them. haha i love fruit. guava, açaí, passionfruit, sei la. i dont remember.

Have you been sick? (Last week you said, "i was feeling terrible that night, i told my comp before going into their house that he would be the one to teach and i wouldnt be able to...but after the prayer i felt i had to talk so i did...") no i just had a huge headache. haha but im good now.

Have you read "Drawing on the Powers of Heaven"? no. its not part of the missionary library and i havent read all of it yet...

How about "Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith"? like half of it....

Tell me about the people you are teaching...were teaching Jackson, who has a date for this sunday, but he drinks...a lot! and were helping him stop...then Rafael, who is super excited to get baptized but we have to break the bad news to him that we cant baptize him right now...hes in trouble with the law... :( and a few other people but they are the main ones....

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? in the leadership meetings. mais in the lz conference.... it was really good...

i love you all, sounds like things are going well there, bom trabalho! derek and brit are really gonna move there? legal. well...im kinda over it...haha. NOT THE MISSION! the email! oh and tell Derek happy birthday! sorry i forgot! (2 semanas seguidas) :/ love ya'll!

Elder Bergquist

2/28/12 always running in the mission

Hi mommy! ha hows it goin there in the states? i dont have a whole lot of time... super corrida sempre na missao! haha (always running in the mission)

How are you??? just wonderful! as always!

How is it going with your new companion? really good. i like him a lot. he teaches really well and is sempre super animado! (always super excited)

How is the new area? pretty good. were still settling in kinda, but its getting better everyday

How is your zone doing? not so great, but every week is getting a little better. the first week was terrible, then last week was bad, this week looks like it will be alright ha by the end of the month, theyll be doing well haha

How many lessons did you teach this week? i dont remember. like 40 i think. we had one day we taught 17!!! haha we went on a division with the assistants, and all four of us worked in our area because they dont really have one haha.

How often do you meet with your zone? with the zone? umm....once every 3 months. zone conf... but we go to the district meetings every week, switching districts each week...

Any baptisms?? Were you guys able to baptize Flabio?? FLAVIO! yeah! it went really well. nossa he is bom demais! (wow, he is too good!) His family will be an eternal one in a year. hes super excited to go to the temple and get sealed! his son Gabriel is the same age as Weston. every time i go there i think of Weston haha. but i think thats what made him get baptized...we were talking sunday night after the baptism and they said it was something "I" said (it wasnt me, com certeza (with certainty) it was the spirit). i was feeling terrible that night, i told my comp before going into their house that he would be the one to teach and i wouldnt be able to...but after the prayer i felt i had to talk so i did...and said something about his family and gabriel and i think it was that and a question my comp fez (made) that made him decide. it was really cool. and Agata, a esposa dele (his wife) gave the message in the baptism. it was really good! she said "today God and Jesus are happy because that sacrifice is working in the life of one more child of God today. it was a really good thought. i never looked at it that way before.

How about the lady that went to church and her hubby and daughter? she went again and is super excited, but they have to get the stuff (especially money) together to get married, so its kinda tough. she said after the baptizm that she doesnt want to get baptized anymore because shes scared. (my comp baptized Flavio like 5 times. neither of them know how to swim and i think Flavio was kinda scared of the water so he kept like lifting a leg or an arm or flailing in the water haha and my comp had to kinda force him down. as Flavio said "I was baptized very well!" haha hes such a good guy and will be a great priesthood holder.

Do you know an Elder Matson that is serving in Progresso? (His mom is on the missionary mom's email group) he must be in progresso in contagem. this is progresso BH. no i dont know him...

Is Progresso in your zone? theres two. BH is but contagem no...

Are you and your comp both new to this area? yeah

Do you guys feel the Spirit directing you where to go to teach/tract? of course! haha its getting better every day. the first few days you have to get he hang of how your comp teaches sabe? (you know?)

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this past week? in the message Agata gave in the baptism, or in the message we gave to gente and ontem... we taught two guys that are like 21 and 24 and they loved it and are super excited for baptism! one of them just walked in here. hes excited to see us tonight haha.

What book are you studying right now? a lot ha. depende no dia (depends on the day) ...jacob, jesus the christ, D&C, PMG, Liahona....haha a little bit of tudo (everything)...

Have you read Jesus the Christ? i think youve asked me that like 10 times...yes. haha i finished when i was still in the states...but i started it again...

that would be sweet if devin got that internship
Anyway. love you all! ate o proximo!

Elder Bergquist!!

Hey pops! i dont have a lot of time and whats worse is theres a bunch of teenagers in here listening to brazilian funk. its terrible! i gotta get out of here! but sounds like a pretty cool story of that point guard. and keep me updated on the trades in the NBA. and the golf. what number is phil? and tiger? i was talking to the assistant the other day about tiger. hes a golfer too...tell me more about mitt when you hear more... love you pops!

Elder Bergquist

2/22/12 every woman wants an eternal family

Dallin got on line EARLY today and we had not sent our emails yet... luckily I was on writing him when his came across... he got ours but after he sent his 1st one! (Yikes, we almost missed him!!!)

Anyway, here is his 1st email...

well you didnt write to me this week. i feel very unloved....i havent gotten any letters in like a month and now not even my family likes me....hahahah jkjkj...but i really didnt get any emails....so im sending a picture and ill let you know that the work is going well...weve got a baptism of a man on sunday, a priesthood holder... his wife has been a member for like 10 years, went inactive married him and came back to the church like 2 years ago....a lot of missionaries have gone and tried to baptize him but we got here at the right time, we did everything we could during last week to help people but nobody firm to be baptized this week....until sunday night at 8 oclock, we went to visit this members mom who went to church sunday....found out she wasnt married and thats the only thing thats holding her back from getting baptized....so we taught them and Flavio wants to baptized finally! i almost started crying when he accepted because i know how crazy his wife is going alone and trying and trying. every woman wants an eternal family! she was in the other room putting the baby to sleep (the same age as Weston) and she heard and she came practically running in and goes, "what did he say?!" haha it was really cool. i love being able to help people that dont know what else to do. we took a lady to church sunday too, that we hadnt really taught yet too...just invited her to church and after the meeting she goes "nossa! gostei muito! quero ser batizado! vou casar e batizar logo logo!" (Wow, I really liked! I want to be baptized! I will marry and baptize very soon!) haha it was really cool, were getting things ready for their wedding and her daughter and husband are going to go to church this sunday! que bencao!! amo a missao! amo voces! obrigado por tudo!! até mais! (What a blessing! I love the mission! Love you guys! Thanks for everything!)

Elder Bergquist

Here is his 2nd one...

What are your assignments as LZ? im the mission mascot. hahaha jk take care of the zone. if the zone doesnt baptize its my fault...ha

How big is your zone? theres 3 districts. its the BH west stake...

New area... are you still in the city of BH? yeah. were in alvorada. its close to progresso. its where my lz was when i was there in progresso...

Tell us about your new comp... where is he from? hes from sao paulo. not dereks mission haha but he lives pretty close to the temple. ha

Is he a hard worker? yeah. hes an LZ haha he know what hes doing. probably better than me haha

Is he fun? yeah. i like him. hes a good guy...teaches well. but hes not super serious, so it balances out because im more serious haha

Is he friendly or shy? hes not shy, he likes talking to people and sempre animado haha (always excited)

How is the work going in your new area? pretty well...i told you a bit about it in my 1st email

Are you teaching lots? not a ton yet, weve only got a week here. but its going well. were staring to get the hang of the area. ha

Any baptisms? weve got a good one this week to complete a family so they can go to the temple and get sealed!! que bencao! (what a blessing!)

Does the ward help you out? yeah...well they are ate agora (so far)

Is the ward a big ward? not really. but this week is carnival so i think there was a lot of people travelling sabe (you know)

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest? when flavio accepted baptism! sorry! you waited too long i dont have any more time!

tchau!!

AND, the picture he sent this week...

2/15/12 Zone Leader

Hey mommy! ill answer your questions first today ha

How was your week? it was REALLY good. im lovin it!

How is teaching with your companion going? its going well...or was...he was getting better...

You said last week he was getting better, is he just shy or what? yeah, he doesnt talk hardly at all...but he got back into it...

Any baptisms? aremita this past sunday. and this sunday we had 4! a family really really good!

When are transfers? (I know of a sister missionary that is coming home on Thurs from your mission...) hoje (today). im now here in alvorada. and my new comp is elder cruz. we are the LZs here in BH oeste.

What is the LDM? (Manual of the District Leader?? ... just a guess... am I right?? if so... what is it for?) hahahahahaha i laughed outloud at that one for real. good stuff...LIVRO DE MORMON!! BOM hahah

You said, "We already taught IT the "new way""... what is IT??? the book of mormon! ha in the conf of zona we practiced BOM! and learned a way a little different to teach it.... its not that different, just talk a little more about como ele surgiu sabe ha

Does everyone go to zone conference? theres 3. everyone goes but not everyone to the same one

Are you writing in your journal?? yeah...well de vez em quando (once in a while) ....i dont have time to do anything at night. i write like once or twice a week...most of the time ha

How is Aremita doing? shes animada de mais!! (more excited) she dreamed about us to before we got there too...

Was she baptized? YEAH!!!

When did you feel the Spirit this strongest? we found this family mom. NOSSA! they are perfect. its a dad Valdemar, mom Sandra, and son Walison. they have already read like half the book of mormon! we told them we were gonna teach the plan of salvation and walison goes. oh now im excited! thats a subject i like! they are so excited. i was really sad i left there. i really wanted to baptize them. the son is 20 years old too. the dad already changed his work schedule to not work sunday anymore and stopped drinking coffee. the son already broke up with his girlfriend to keep the law of chastity. Eleitos! (elects!) and 2 melq. priesthood holders! and a family! nossa its really good work out here in the mission field! and now im with another missionary thats got experience. im super excited! love you all! tchau!

Elder Bergquist