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

2/8/12 I was in a dream!

first things first. SERIOUSLY!?? they got rid of Shannon Brown??! and Lamar? who did they get for that? nossa. kobe is the man. always with his eyes on the prize haha.

but yeah, i celebrate that. at least on 4th of july. last year that was my message i shared with the member at lunch haha about the founding of the US in the book of Mormon. good times haha.

its good to hear that the missionaries there are working and helping people. i didnt know about that either, but its probably better than a TON of people we are teaching here. were working in the biggest favela in BH. Serra. my comp is good, he came from an area where he says it was really hard to teach, so he was kinda down on himself desanimado, (nao sei falar en ingles) (he does not know how to speak English) yeah im exercising. im trying to get in at least 20 minutes everyday. but its tough...my LZ is basically the assistant....theres only one in the mission right now, and my LZ is his comp....in the conf de zona ontem, ele que estava ensinando (in the zone conf. yesterday he was teaching with the AP) and stuff with elder Ballard (not the apostle haha) the ward mission leader is good, he just got married and he doesnt have a whole lot of time since he got back from the mish, so hes good, we have our weekly meeting at least, which is more than in most area haha. yeah i got he pics! thanks! love ya pops!
Elder Bergquist

hey mommy. how are things back in cali? sounds like chad's doing alright....tell him to send me an email about his winter formal. ha. tell Kaitlin thanks a ton!! i got the package yesterday from her! bom demais! gostei das fotos tambem... (too good! liked the pictures too) hows Blake doing? and Derek and Devin? and the nephews. nossa, i hate it and love it at the same time, getting pics of them. hows work going for you? are you still working there? and the ward back home? i havent heard from like anyone....haha except um casal que eu nem conheço mandou um cartão de natal (a couple that I do not know that sent me a Christmas card) ha. it was very kind of them....anyway, for your questions...ha

So tell me about your new comp! born in rio grande do sul, mas criado in santa catarina. he reminds me of chad, just the way he like carries himself haha. hes was into like technology....sei lá.

How long has he been out? about 11 months

Is he a hard worker? yeah...hes getting better

How was your week? really good, we had a conference de zona. we talked about how to teach about the LDM better. we already taught it the "new way" nossa, it went really really well. good stuff.

How many lessons did you guys give? i dont remember like 35...?

Any baptisms? yeah we had 2. João, that we baptized a couple weeks back, he got the priesthood and baptized his two grandkids! Que bencao! nossa foi bom demais! (what a blessing! Ours was too good!)

How is your district doing? really well, we had 7 baptisms this week :) their working pretty well

Is the ward your serving in very big? the biggest ive been in on the mish theres like 120 that go to church regularly. like 25 sacerdocio maior (greater Priesthood).

Anything funny happen this week? besides having to travel across the country to pick up my comp, no not really...i dunno, probably, but i dont remember...haha

When did you feel the spirit the strongest this week? well a few times. ill tell you about it haha

What is your address of where you ate living so we can look it up on the comp, we are curios as to what part of the city you live in! i dont remember the number...its rua coronel edigio abreu...alguma coisa sssim haha and i think its number hundred something haha

And how big is your ward boundaries? i dont really know. go on the church site and look it up haha it has all the wards and everything i think....

How much area does your district cover? i dont know. its sabará, floresta, sta lúcia and paraíso

Do you have your district meetings at your ward building! yeah. haha we have to travel for interviews soi make them travel for district meeting

well, this week, Onorina told us (the lady we baptized with João) that she had been praying the night before we knocked on their door. she said she had a dream that night, and i was in it....then when we knocked on the door she looked down from the "balcony" and saw me and already knew that is was an answer from God. she NEVER told us that before! i got kinda mad at her! haha but my dream is to see this family sealed in the temple. its a really good family!

we found another lady too. Aremita. can you say ELECT??! ha its was really cool, from the minute we stepped in her house, we didnt even introduce ourselves and she goes "quer entrar?" opens the door, "entra, entra" from the minutes we stepped in you could tell she was escolhida! (chosen) she accepted everything really well and goes, I was already baptized in a couple of churches and ive already been to a couple, but i knew something was missing, authority! haha nossa it was really cool. really spiritual. she told us after church on sunday, before we even had time to ask, this is the place, im gonna get baptized Sunday for sure!! shes 84 years old! but she looks like shes about 65. shes a really nice lady. but anyway, im sending a couple pictures of the baptisms for you guys. love you all!
Elder Bergquist!

2/1/12 In a hurry...

im in the escritorio and com pressa desculpa mas vai ser muito curto. perguntas. (office and in a hurry sorry but will be very short. questions.)

So, how was your week? pretty good. the work is going well

Did you figure out why your companion wanted to go home? he is going home today, he feels inadequate or something.... but my new comp is elder beck. from rio grande do sul.

Is he set on staying now? no. but hes gonna come back daqui 6 meses

Are you working well together? yeah...we were. he teaches really really well....

Is he happy to be with you? :) he was. he told me these last couple days that he wants to stay now, but pres already decided....

You said that ward does a lot of baptizing but they don't stay active... are you working with them to get them back to church? thats not our job. ha thats the job of the members. we re helping a little...but were baptizing converts!! ha

So, did you guys baptize the grandson of the people that were baptized last week? How old is he? yeah. hes 14

Who else are you teaching? his mom and his brothers. and another rapaz (boy). friend of a member chamado stephan

Are any progressing? Ready for baptism? yup todos os (all) 4....hopefully...theres sometimes things crazy that happen...but theyre quase (almost) there

How many investigators were at church on sunday? 8

Do you prepare a "lesson" for district meeting? no...just look at the goals and talk about how we can do better...as vezes (sometimes) a little spiritual thought....

Anything fun/unusual happen this week? a lot. my comp is going home. im going to governador valadares to get my comps stuff and coming back. 4 hours each way on the bus...well proabably get home like 11 oclock hoje (tonight)...

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? in the 1st lesson with stephan the spirit was really strong. we looked for his house for like 2 hours and couldnt find it. so later that night we decided to go by the members house that is friends with him to ask and who answered the door was him! so we taught him na hora! que bencao!

What happened with the lady that you were so ousado with? Did she pray about it? i dont even remember who i was talking about but i did the same thing with onorina and she was baptized! :) sorry gotta go! i have pictures. ill try to send them! love you mom!

Elder Bergquist