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