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

4/25/12 Put into practice what I learn and I will baptize a lot!

Mommy! Gostei muito das fotos! (I really enjoyed the photos) the boys are getting grandinhos haha. theyre looking more like Bergquists each day haha. thats good they got more of the good side of the genes. hahaha jk... kinda... hahaa. Sem moleza (no cake walk) chad! atta boy! haha gostei daquela historia (I liked the story). its good to hear a little about you guys too. kaitlin is coming home? and ashley and zoe are going there too? i hope my letters get to them haha. i wrote a couple of weeks ago and sent them to their utah address haha. oh well...someday theyll get them.....probably haha. i hope you like the pics. i finally sent some haha tell grandma happy birthday!!! and i love her!. ill be praying for diana to get a job. and parabens por formar (congratulations) Derek! Its always good to see the kids in the graduation picture hahah. And above all parabens (congratulations) to the LAKERS!! haha ill be praying for kobe too to win the scoring title. Mike told me he prayed on his mish for the lakers and his comp got mad...but thats what its all about! haha if the sprit tells you to pray about it you gotta do it! right mike? Devin tambem parabens! (also congratulations - his brothers graduated from college) love you all!

How are you? wonderful! How was your week? ótima! (great)

Did you do any baptism interviews? this past week no. but ill have at least 3 this week

How is your zone doing? pretty good. this past sunday was pessima (bad). but this one will be a lot better.

How is the teaching coming along? well. its getting better each day. theres a little something missing ainda (still), but u think we found it!

Anyone ready for baptism? weve got a few people but theyre not real firm...not sure...

What is going on with the less active that went to church last week? Did he go again? less active?? i dont know....there was a husband of a less active that isnt a member that went....he didnt go again...infelizmente (unfortunately)

Are you getting referrals from the ward members? a few. its slowed down a bit, but yeah... What are you reading now? im reading a ton of stuff i just finished nosso legado (our legacy)...but i study a little of everything...its more by topic then by book ha.

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this past week? in my interview with PRESIDENT! i love my interviews with him! he added a bit to my patriarchal blessing! haha he told me at the end that if i put into practice what i learn i would Baptize,A LOT, and while im still here in 7 lagoas! it was awesome! 
i love the mish! love you guys! ate mais! Elder Bergquist

Elder Da Cunha, Elder Lima, Elder Bergquist, e Elder Jara! and our lunch we made last week. we make chicken strips, with eggs and farofa and potatoes and rice with BBQ sauce. it was pretty dang good. and we are making pizza today!

Elder Bergquist with the new birth certificates of a guy and his girlfriend for them to get married and baptized!

Elder Bergquists new shoes. size 42!!! the biggest shoes ive ever owned hahaha Hey pops! I LOVE THE LAKERS!!! haha thats what im talking about! Ron artest is a beast and kobe is the best basketball player to ever walk this planet! its sad they dont give him due respect, but whatever, it happened with The Savior too right...? maybe that wasnt the best comparison, but, i like the guy alright...haha ohh...anyway...thanks for the email pops. you guys have sister missionaries? covering two wards? which ones? that is kinda crazy...but anyway...i dont have a whole lot of time today and i have to send pictures to mom or shell go crazy haha. were gonna make pizza today, send me a dough recipe if at all possible! please and thank you! love ya pops! Elder Bergquist

4/18/12 Opposition in all things...

Bishop Bergquist!
hey pops. glad i got your letter! sounds like all is well! good to hear about grandpa. and to get to know little weston a little better. sounds like a character. sounds like he likes all the attention you guys are sure to be giving him haha. even blake likes him thats crazy haha. no he always liked kids too. like tess and all the cousins its not a huge surprise...souinds like everyone is happy and the lakers are doing alright. how long will kobe be out for?? bynum is a beast! good stuff good stuff....anyway, gotta go! love ya pops! i wrote a letter to Brennen today. when does he go home again? i forgot haha. ate mais! tchau!
Elder Bergquist

hey mommy!!
how are things la em casa?? i hope everything is going well! i hope you're not sick too! priesthood blessing!! haha i love getting pics of weston and krew! haha they look like happy little guys. i like hearing about you guys too. you dont share much with me either haha. sorry that some weeks are better then others, both with the work and with my disposition to write you guys in detail hah. sometimes i just dont feel like writing haha. sorry, but i cant lie...but ill answer your questions:

How was your week? well, to be honest, not real great. we tried and tried to work in this neighborhood close to the chapel (they want to divide the ward but theres not enough priesthood close to the chapel) but it just just didnt work out too well, so we switched to a different bairro...

How is the work going? its going alright, not super good, but com certeza ta melhorando (It will surely improve).

How many investigators at church? this week just one, really disappointing, but it was lucky we had one. we had gone to everyones house to get them for church, but nobody was there or had some excuse....and then we called one guy that wasnt at home and he said he was at the fair which is right in front of the chapel at the lake praça...he said he was going to go to church but didnt want us to find him at the fair...so we went and sat down in church and like 20 minutes after the start he showed up. hes a less actives husband....and longtime friend of some members, so well see what happens!

Any one ready for baptism? not yet, unfortunately :(

How many lessons did you teach? not a ton. i think like 25....

Do you have to teach at the zone meetings? we didnt have any. and no i dont teach at them. unless its my turn to practice teaching investigators. its more just practicing teaching investigators

How big is your area that you are serving in? its probably the smallest ive been in on my mission until now. and we have two duplas working in it. its kinda crazy haha.

Are you still sleeping on that flat little pad? Or did you get a hammock and get up off the ground??? still sleeping on the pad. i cant sleep in a hammock mom, that will kill my back. and my bank account hahaha

Are you writing in your journal? (You better be!!! You do not share enough with us each week...) ummmmmmmmm...........................yeah............well my journal acabou....i need to buy another one, but i write de vez em quando (once in a while) ....haha ill buy one today...i think haha.

anyway....sorry this week wasnt super exciting here in boa vista...but next week will be a better email i hope! haha sorry! im doing my best haha. love you all! i know Christ is our Savior! He loves you all!!!!
um abraço.
Elder Bergquist!
PS i dont have any! ill take some today! next week for sure!! sorry :/ haha