5/30/12 She was already a member!

Dad,
i can imagine hayden going to church in his skirt but for some reason i dont see ricky in a sombrero hahah the nba is terrible. i dont even want to hear anymore about the heat. we already know theyve got it...  sounds like the weekend was pretty good for you guys... haha pretty quiet eh? louco. (crazy) you guys are getting old. hahaa jkjk...but theres still a ton of people at home for now. so thats good haha. too bad for weaver. that is ridiculous...good game haha. well i love ya pops. thanks for always being a great dad and supporting me and teaching me in everything....a few weeks ago i started to feel falta (in need) of your blessing that you always give me at the start of the school year ha so i asked pres to give me one haha. it was really good. not quite the same but it was really good. love ya pops. ate mais!
Elder Bergquist

hey mom!!
So did you get the pics that devin sent? yup!

How do you charge your iPod? right now its charging in the comp...

Do you use it? (Karen says she needs to send some church music to Jonathon and she is trying to figure out what is best, any suggestions?) yeah, i dont know because it depends on what the president lets them listen to....here its just mo tab (He misunderstood, she is wondering HOW to play music, ipod, CD player, etc...)

Do you need me to send you another SD card for your camera? that would be good. this one is running out of space...

How was your week? amazing as always ha

Did Val's family come to church? no. they were on their way and got in a car crash....there was a marathon on the avenue in front of the church so the traffic was crazier than normal....they didnt make it. but everybody is fine. dont worry...

Who are you teaching now? children of  our loving heavenly Father. haha everybody we can!

Anyone ready for baptism? there are tons. they just dont know it yet! haha

The pics of the missionaries that are "crushing" on Ashley and Kaitlin, are they the elders you live with?  yeah haha its my comp and elder casper they both live with me

Did y'all have any investigators at church on Sunday? yeah. (I love how he gives me SO much info!)

Do you eat breakfast? yeah. oatmeal or cookies or stuff like that haha

What do y'all eat for dinner? cookies. haha sometimes ramen...sometimes sandwiches...thats about it haha

 Do you think chad should take AP Lang with maculix next year or wait till his sr year??? sei la. (I don't know) haha ddoes he like english? its not easy. but if he knows how to please the teacher he can get an a

When are transfers? i dunno. in like 3 weeks i think...we dont think about that in the mission. pres gets mad because nobody ever baptizes on the week of transfers because theyre all thinking theyll be leaving...

Does your new MP get there this week? no. its on the 30th of june that they switch...

Is there still 4 of you living together? (I bet it is much more lively with 4) yeah. it is but sometimes its demais (excessive) with elder casper and elder canepa hahaa

When is transfers? your trunky! (haha, I was laying in bed typing this up and didn't realize I had already asked this!  oops!)

Anything fun/crazy happen this week? uhhh yeah, but it goes together with that last question too. our baptism was kinda ridiculous!~we were teaching karen and her mom andrea. karen was super excited from the first day we taught her but her mom wasnt so excited...but we kept teaching them and karen was getting more and more excited and her mom less and less...until we told them about the interview....andrea goes, no shes not gonna get baptized this week....but we took her to be interviewed anyway just to show her that it wasnt that big a deal. she passed real easy...and then she stayed there for a yw activity....they were going to do a little show for the moms. her mom got there a little later and after the activity the elders showed up to talk to them about their baptism.... he went and asked andrea if she was excited for her baptism on sunday (this was saturday night) and she looked at me with a little grin and erminia (member) goes just tell him.....i thought for sure she decided to get baptized....when all of the sudden she goes im already baptized. being a missionary and hearing this multiple times a day from half the people we invite to be baptized i thought, you very well know you werent baptized in the true church if you were baptized so i asked what do you mean? and she goes im baptized here...like 15 years ago i got baptized! you guys never asked! i was going crazy! anyway...long story short, we looking it up on the computer and she was and we convinced her to let her daughter get baptized too and she did! what a blessing!!
Elder BerGQuist 

He also sent 2 pictures but he didn't tell me whose birthday it was...???
(his face and arms sure look tan but those are some WHITE legs)

 And, their baptism!  (Karen) :)

5/23/12 my comps that are obsessed with my friends haha

nossa mae!!
nao acredito. as i was reading about the lakers i felt the pain. literally, i got a cramp in my leg. thats how much i love them, i feel their pain. i converted my comp. ill be sending a foto. well im kinda sad and i dont know what else to write. i kinda fell in depression with that announcement. they just didnt wanna win it while i was out of the country i think. next year ill be there and ill be becoming a stats man for them, then theyll win haha. and sounds like hayden was pretty excited. love ya pops and good luck with the whole bishopping deal haha ate mais! tchau!
Elder Bergquist

 hey mom. hows it goin.

well i sent a ton of pics to make up for some other weeks haha. hope you like them haha oh and tell kaitlin and natalia that i said hi too! natalias going on a mission! que legal! let me know where shes going. and where is chase going again:: i forgot. i know its in south slash central america speaking spanish....guatemala: sei la.

How was your week? wonderful!!

How was the baptism? amazing!

Do you have any more scheduled? yeah, we have a few this week, but one doesnt know if he'll have to work on sunday

how is the work going? really good. were learning a ton and teaching way better now.

How is your district doing? our district is going pretty terrible.

Your zone? the zone too. the missionaries in this zone need to stop talking so much about home and stop being trunky.

Are you able to go see all the referrals you get? well...we probably can, but some arent as good as others, so we focus on the good ones from the members

Anything funny happen this week? yeah. you'll see in the pictures haha. the missionaries that live with me are louco. haha

Are you writing in your journal? yeah. the good experiences at least haha.like that one i told you about val and her husband. at least i think i told you haha if not ill tell you later. like after the mission

Are you taking lots of pictures? not a whole lot, but of the good stuff. you'll see haha

When did you feel the spirit the strongest this week? no batismo da (the baptism of) val. i baptized for the first time since december!! not that we didnt have baptisms but this one i actually performed haa. its was really funny too. the water was cold because the water heater ran out of gas ha. val screamed when she got in the water haha. but it was a really good baptism and the whole family was there :) good stuff. and what Celio said to Val. i felt the spirit super strong! :) that family is gonna get real strong in the church again!

Amo voçês!

Elder Bergquist

ps cadê as fotos (where are the photos) from the herping trip!!? (Dallin's brother, Devin, went with his cousin on their annual herping trip, you can go HERE to look at pics...)

some pics for you guys. the first one is our lakers fan group here in contagem. pretty big eh. i converted my comp.

the next two are of the baptism. Val. and her family that i told you about, everybody in the pics are her family, their inactive but they all went to the baptism and a few of them were crying by the end of sacrament meeting! que bencao!

 the trade i made with elder canepa for his authentic flamengo jersey. (He traded 2 ties for the jersey)

 my comps that are obsessed with my friends haha. they ask to see my pictures like almost everyday haha. (haha, I can't wait to see what Ashley and Kaitlin think about this!!! TOO cute!)

5/16/12 Seek Learning by Faith

hey mom...welll....not a whole lot to say since we talked like yesterday haha i hope all is still well with you guys...tell mike i said hi too...well the questions...

So are you down to 2 elders in your house or do you still have 4? its still 4 for now...

Do they celebrate mothers day there? kinda haha the same way they celebrate everything...everyone gets together and drinks as a family...and usually a barbeque too...haha

Do you have a baptism set up for Sunday? yeeah

How long ago was your comp in the office as the sec? like a year ago...no it was like 6 months i think

How many investigators were at church on Sunday? not a whole lot.... :(

How many lessons did you reach this week? like 25...i dont rememberr exactlly haha...

What are your goals? ensinar (teach) the whole city and baptize at least half of it!

Has the wars given you any referrals? yeah...this ward gives a lot...

Do you like doing the baptismal interviews? not really haha. i just dont like having to stop teaching to go do them....

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week? as i was studying the talk i told you about by elder bednar...learning by faith (not sure if thats the title in english...?) in portuguese its aprender pela fé. its super good. and it helped me a lot to learn and it helped me to learn how to teach better too...

well i love you all! have a good week!

Elder bergquist


I think this is the talk he was speaking of... click HERE to read it.

5/14/12 Mother's Day Phone Call

Dallin's Mission President said he could skype without the image this time.  Dallin also told us to call the sister whose home they would be going to to call from... Derek, Dallin's older brother, served his mission in Sao Paulo so he can speak Portuguese too... Dallin gave us the phone number to call Irma Jurema to set up the skype... I bought an international phone card not knowing if we would have Derek call and get her skype info or if we would just used the phone.

Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting and then came home to get ready for the call.  Diana was here visiting and was flying home at 3, we needed to get her to the airport by 2 and the phone call was to be at 11.

At 11 we had Derek call Irma Jurema's home to ask her about skype and Dallin answered the phone!!  He asked Dallin if we should skype and he said sure, if you want to but we will have to wait about 30 min. because his companion was on it.  Since Diana was to leave we just went ahead and talked to him on the phone.  We all went to the kitchen table and put the phone on speaker (I have a picture that Brittany took but she isn't here right now so I will add it later)

We are allowed to talk to "Elder Bergquist" for 40 or 45 minutes (I honestly can't remember) but either way, it didn't seem like long!  I know some talk to their missionary for hours on end... I don't need that but it would have been nice to have another 20 minutes.  With such a big family (which I love) and everyone talking (which is great) I feel like we didn't get to hear much from him!  :(

Here are a few things that he told us... they are getting a new Mission President in July.
Here is a picture and the bio of his CURRENT Mission President:

Adilson de Paula Parrella, 46, and Elaine Finholdt Parrella, five children, Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission; Alphaville Ward, Barueri Brazil Stake. Brother Parrella is an Area Seventy and a former counselor in a stake presidency, bishop, branch president, ward Sunday School president and missionary in the Brazil Porto Alegre Mission. Adjunct partner, Korn/Ferry International. Born in Guaruja, Brazil, to Fioravante and Vany de Paula Parrella. Sister Parrella is a ward Relief Society music director and a former stake Primary president and counselor, ward Primary president, counselor, and chorister and stake Primary chorister. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, to Paulo Volnei and Diva Morillas Finholdt.


And, here is a picture of the Mission President that has been called to begin their service on July 1, 2012.

David Kent Armstrong, 55, and Elizabeth Ann Jensen Armstrong, six children, Uruguay Montevideo Mission; La Molina Ward, Lima Perú La Molina Stake. Brother Armstrong serves as a counselor in the Peru Missionary Training Center and is a former stake mission president, high councilor, bishop, counselor in a branch presidency and missionary in the Uruguay Montevideo Mission. Area legal counsel, Corporation of the President. Born in Massena, N.Y., to Ellis Leroy and Florine Clark Armstrong.

Sister Armstrong is a counselor in a Relief Society presidency and is a former stake camp director, Relief Society president and Young Women president. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Robert Max and Elizabeth Syphus Jensen.

We asked him about Elder Hendrickson whose mom is on the Missionary Mom's email list and we have touched base and thought from what they had said in their emails that they were probably in the same zone.  Sure enough, Dallin told us that they are!  Dallin had just interviewed someone that Elder Hendrickson has been teaching for baptism!  They both had attended BYU before the mission.

He told us about a lady that they are going to baptize on Sunday!  Her hubby is an inactive member, he and his children (who are now grown and married) are all baptized but the wife/mom isn't YET!  :)  The whole family have been sitting in on the lessons and they are REALLY excited to be bringing the whole family back into activation.  He is pretty sure that the spouses of the children will be baptized too!

We told him about 2 of the young women that he and his companion baptized earlier had "friended" Kaitlin on facebook and chatted with her a few times.  He said that one of them is now a councilor in the laurel class!  (It is always nice to know that people you have baptized are staying active in the church!)

We were asking him about exercise and not playing any sports on Pday and he (as always) has a great attitude (they are not allowed to play sports on Pday, he had bought new indoor soccer cleats for his Pday shoes before leaving as he LOVES soccer) He said, well, sometimes we are late getting home and we RUN!  ;)

He said that someone gave him some "Mexican pepper.... uh, what is it called?  uh, salsa?  o... hot sauce"  It was funny listening to him have a hard time remembering some English words!  He said he really misses Mexican food and so they went to the store to get some but that it was really expensive so they didn't get any.  He said that 10 tortillas for 5 reais ($2.50).  

He told us that he met a guy that served his mission with a friend of the family, Daniel Harper.

He said that his favorite area so far was Progresso.

He said he thinks his MP likes him because he is always honest with him... ;)

He also said he had to talk to his companion in English on their walk over to make the calls home so he would start thinking in English!  :)

It was nice to hear his voice, he sounds great!  Always positive and happy!  I am so proud of him!  I counted out the transfers and it appears that he will be home on Dec. 5th. or 6th so the next time we talk to him will be in person!!!

5/9/12 everybody started sharing testimonies

 hey pops.  hows it goin. looks like the lakers are still doin good. how do they count the scoring title by game that they play then?  its not total? but kobe knows where its at.  its not about him, its about the team. ha good guy.  and mitts in it then?  when does the election start?  in like november, right?  indiana is in it?  WEIRD where did they come from? haha i want to see pics from the herp trip, tell devin to send some to me.  11 am there is 3 here.  works out perfect.  (for our Mother's Day phone call) president said that we can use skype but without the image.  he said if i find out you used the image ill send you home to see the image of your mom for the rest of your life. hahaha i dont know if skype would be better or if it would be better to just call... i dont really know how skype works that well.  you have to have a login but you guys could call the irma and derek can talk to her to set it up.  it will for sure be way cheaper... aka free, hahaha, but i think thats it.  i will talk more about it with mom but if you guys could respond to make sure its under control for sunday or work it out with irma jurema.
Elder Bergquist




hey mom
What time do you want us to call you? dad said 11 oclock works best for you guys.  thats perfect, i just need to know...

What number do we call?  xx xxxx xxxx with the same prefix and everything from last time.  i dont remember but 31 is the area code and the number is the other 8 numbers.  pres said we can use skype, but without the image.  i told dad in his email.  i dont know how you guys want to do it, email me back letting me know or work it out with irma jurema, but i need to know whatt time for sure. irma jurema is from the ward and we are going to eat with her on sunday!  i had skype but i dont remember my account.  thats why i told you about her and gave you the phone number already.  put derek to work with his portuguese!!!  haha tell him to work it out with her.

How do you like your new area?  Tell us about it.  How far from Belo are you?  its good.  its HUGE!!  im in contagem, which basically is still BH, but its technically another city.  the edge of our area borders BH.

How big is the town/city?  its pretty big, theres a stake here.

Is it a poor area?  no, theres parts that are but not really.

Tell us about your new companion! the great Elder Canepa (he wrote the great haha) hes from campo grande mato grosso do sul.  he was the financial secretary when i got here and hes been an LZ since he left the office... muito gente boa (very good people) ... i like him, hes a good guy. hes super excited and kind of a joker, hes been a member since birth, well since 8 years old.

How long has he been out?  hes got like one month less than me on the mish

Are all of the elders you are living with natives?  no.  there was 3 and 3 but 2 of them moved out today to a house in their area, Elder Wensel and Elder Fernandes.  now its my dupla and elder Wieniesky (Brasileiro) and elder Casper from Washington,  he went to byu too and elder wensel is a ute.  we always walk around the house in our byu shirts, haha, good stuff!  

Are they all hard workers?  i think so, haha, it seems like it.  we dont work together its only when we are at home and at church that i see them.

How many people are you teaching?  millions!!  haha... 

Anyone ready for baptism?  tambem (also) millions!!  Que Bencao!!!  (what a blessing!!!) we are teaching a lady thats husband is an inactive member, she's got a date for dia 20 and were gonna bring the whole family back with her!  the mom and 3 kids, their spouses and kids!!!  her name is Val.  shes super exited and jokes with us and stuff.  

How many investigators did you have at church?  um, 4 i think.  tinha mais (was more) but we divided the other dupla.  

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this past week?  with Val and that whole family.  we had a family night  and a couple of other families. we watched the restoration and bore testimony and then everybody started sharing testimonies and basically it turned into a testimony meeting.  the spirit was super strong and we went back the next day and Val accepted a date to be baptized and the whole family wants to come back!  they all bore testimony and felt the spirit and now they have a reason to go to church.  Val is too and will be baptized.  they have to be there ne. haha
i love you all. Happy mothers day!! 
Elder Bergquist

5/6/12 Bring it on!

wow... looks like things are going pretty well there at home.
i converted elder jara to be a laker fan over the last 5 weeks.  haha.  kobe is a beast.  are you sure hes not twenty five still?  haha  hows he looking on the scoring title now?  is he up by now?  how many points?  bynum is lookin good too, good stuff!  baseball...ummm... i think i lost interest haha.  no, but this always happens to the angels, they get good players and then they all fall and forget how to play.  is it looking like lakers and heat in the finals?  is everyone still on the whole lebron is the best deal or have thye opened their eyes?


brother oconnor is a lucky guy... he spoke with Dallin!  hes the man and playing with the pros...
wow, devin jeff and bryce... and christian... as in bryce blomberg and christian, my friends?  im kinda confused on that part haha.  good luck at hobble!  and chads finally gonna get his braaces on?  good luck with that boi...


i didnt get an email from mom today so ill tell you a bit about the mission (I wrote him, I don't know why he didn't get it!) i got transferred.  im here in contagem agora. my comp is elder canepa, im still lz with him.  im excited for this area, 7 lagoas was a challenge for me.  I was happy to leave.


oh hows mitt romney doing?  you never said anything else about him.  well, theres not too much goin on here... ill send a pic of my comp and i...

i dont really know whats going on in the area yet, but in our house there are 6 elders, its probably gonna be a little crazy, vamos la (bring it on).  pres parrella mandou todo mundo estudar (Pres. parrella told everyone to study) a talk from elder bednar, "learn by faith", so if you guys wanna study it too... i dont know what it has yet, but we will see... it must be something really important.  anyway, gotta go... love you all!  i guess ill hear from mom next week.  tchau

Elder Bergquist