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