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