May 5th, Cinco de Mayo

amila,

Feliz cinco de mayo! Gracias por sus correos. Voy a escribir todo en espanol para celebrar este dia famoso! (cual no tiene mucha significa aqui en Los Estados para nada... jaja!) (disculpe K). Se recuerden lo que paso el ultimo ano durante este tiempo?? En realidad estuvimos en San Diego solo caminando alredador el parque en Old Town. (Despues asistiendo el templo por aya). Me extrano Old Town, SD. Pues, la proxima vez en que podamos visitar eso lugar, podemos hablar todo en espanol para toda la gente aya. Estoy emocionando a visitar San Diego otra vez y usar mi espanol. Eso seria muy chido! jaja. 

(eliz May 5th! Thank you for your post. I will write everything in Spanish to celebrate this famous day! (which does not have much meaning here in The States at all ... haha!) (sorry K). They remember what happened the last year during this time? Actually we were in San Diego just walking alredador park in Old Town. (After attending the temple aya). I extrano Old Town, SD. Well, the next time that we visit this place, we can talk all in Spanish for all people aya. I am excited to visit San Diego again and use my Spanish. That would be really cool! haha.)

 

 

Muchas buenas cosas pasaron durante esta semana! Entonces yo recibi las noticias sobre las transferencias y voy a quedarme aqui en Nashua. Todavia Elder Johnston esta mi companero. Estoy emocionado para quedarme aqui y continuar a trabajar con la gente en NH. Oh tambien, yo recibi buenas noticias ayer! Pues, hay va a ser una serperacion en el barrio de Providence, RI! Esta fantastico! Yo escuche las noticias ayer de mi otro companero, Elder Gonzalez, y el me dijo que el barrio crecio tanto que ellos necesitaban dividir el barrio... Entonces ahora, ellos tienen dos barrios, uno en Providence y el otro en Central Falls, mi primera area en la mision! Yo nunca pensaba en este pasando, por los menos mientras yo estaria aqui en la mision. Pues, hay muchos milagros que estan pasando, especialmente en las areas anteriores en que yo servi. Es una bendicion, que yo tenia la oportunidad a servir alli y ayudar esta maravillosa cosa pasa.      

 

(Many good things happened this week! Then I received the news about transfers and I will stay here in Nashua. We do this my companion Elder Johnston. I'm excited to stay here and continue to work with people in NH. Oh well, I received good news yesterday! Well, there will be a serperacion in the neighborhood of Providence, RI! This fantastic! I heard the news yesterday from my other companion, Elder Gonzalez, and told me that the district grew so much that they needed to divide the neighborhood ... So now they have two districts, one in Providence and one in Central Falls, my first area in the mission! I never thought about this happening, at least while I'd be here in the mission. Well, there are many miracles that are happening, especially in the above areas that I service. It is a blessing, that I had the opportunity to serve there and help this wonderful thing happens.)

 

 

La proxima semana, Elder Johnston y yo tuvimos la oportunidad a extender una fecha bautismal para un chico, se llama I___ R______! El tiene 17 anos y creo que el este listo para bautismo. Nos sentimos inspirados a extender una fecha para el primero domingo en junio (1 de Junio). Y tambien, esta semana, tuvimos 47 personas que se asistieron la Iglesia para la reunion sacramental ayer. Esta tiene significa que los numeros por el grupo espanol en Nashua esta creciendo y estamos tener mucho exito! Nuestras oraciones estan siendo contestadas! Por poner la fe y la confianza en Dios, podemos recibir muchas bendiciones en nuestras vidas. Yo tengo un testimonio en eso. 

 

(Next week, Elder Johnston and I had the opportunity to extend a baptismal date for a boy, I___ R____ called! He has 17 years and I think you are ready for baptism. We are inspired to extend the date for the first Sunday in June (June 1). And also, this week, we had 47 people who attended the church for sacrament meeting yesterday. This has meant that the numbers for the Spanish group in Nashua is growing and we have great success! Our prayers are being answered! By putting faith and trust in God, we can receive many blessings in our lives. I have a testimony of that.)

Papi- gracias por la proteina:)  Sigue trabajando duro con el trabajo y en el gimnasio!

Jazzy y papi, disculpen por la mala punctuacion que yo use por esta carta. No puedo poner los accentos y todo de esos... Y karen, voy a escribir un otro correo para ti.

Gracias a ustedes por sus ejemplos para mi. Yo se que este evangelio me trae gran felicidad y que me puedo expresar esa para todas las personas con que estoy trabajando. Disfruten su dia! Voy a comer muchos tacos y tener una fiesta hoy! jaja.

 

(Papi-thanks for protein :) Keep working hard with work and the gym!
Jazzy and dad, sorry for the bad punctuation that I use for this card. I can not put the accents and all of those ... And Karen, I'll write another post for you.
Thank you for your examples to me. I know that this gospel brings me great happiness and I can say that for everyone I'm working with. Enjoy your day! I will eat many tacos and have a party today! haha.)

Les quiero mucho!        

I love them very much!

March 10th

Family,

What a week all of you guys had! I'm still in shock that Rich is married... and not only that but Abuelita showed up to the wedding!!! What the heck haha. I got the chills when I saw all those pictures including the one of dad and Abuelita at the wedding. And now you guys are planning to have her stay over at our house. Wow! Talk about a small world. Make sure to buy some "masa brasa" and avacados when she comes over to the house then. Oh man they are the best tortillas! Las Guatemaltecas saben como a cocinar! Papi, creo que si tu la haces venir a abuelita a la casa, tu dieta irá en la direcion opuesta jaja:) But yes, she took great care of me, and I know you guys will do the same.

Anyways, thanks for all the news and info that's been happening. Its sounds like you guys had an awesome weekend! FYI I never served with that Elder Gonzalez... I actually finished the last 6 weeks of training a different Elder Gonzalez who is still serving in Providence right now. Oh yeah, I don't think I've ever made it known to you guys that I had the opportunity to be a part-time trainer on the mission. (I never had made it known because I didn't do much training, if anything that guy was the one training me). But yeah it sounds like the other Gonzalez is pretty cool too. I heard a ton of good things from Rich about him. Shoot, I can go on and on by asking you guys how everything went with Rich's wedding... still can't believe it, crazy! That's cool, I'm excited for him. 

As for me I am doing pretty good. Johnston and I have worked really hard this week as far as working with the less active members. Also this week we picked up one new investigator, O____, who seems really interested and dedicated to learning more about the church. We were able to teach him the Resturation this past week and it went really well. He has plans to write out a bunch of questions for us, so our next visit with him should be pretty interesting. Also yesterday was another big day for us. Even though we had 10 less people show up to sacrament mtg than what we had the week before- 48 in total, we still had great success. Like what I wrote earlier, we worked really hard with the less active members in the area; so as a result, we had a total of 4 less actives show up to church and they stayed for the entire time! 2 of those less actives are youth, R____ y R___ A____ while the other 2 include J___ P___-24, who told us he has the desire to serve a mission (even had an interview with the bishop yesterday) and another guy, Hermano C_____, who hasn't been to church in over 3 yrs. He was constantly attending the Catholic church after falling away from the church but we finally got him to come back. All we had to do was invite these people and the Lord took care of the rest!

So President Packard also got word of the amount of people that showed up for our Spanish group and was thrilled with our efforts here in Nashua. He was so impressed that he wanted to see the Spanish group for himself. So yesterday, him and his son attended our sacrament meeting, which was pretty cool too. They got to witness the Spanish group for themselves and be a part of our sacrament meeting, even though they had no idea what was going on because of the language barrier. But all and all yesterday was a great day. Don't get me wrong it is not easy whatsoever, I have a ton of days where I'm pretty miserable. But it is sure worth it to actually see of the successes from your efforts.

Speaking of successes... you guys mentioned that Abuelita told you guys that I was able to run into her at the temple a couple weeks prior. That's because I had the opportunity to help out my buddy A____ D_____ go through the temple for the first time a couple weeks back, Feb 22, 2013. A_____, the youth and most of the members of the Prov Spanish Ward were able to make it into attendance that day to do baptisms for the dead. Talk about the all time experience and blessing I had! Just incredible...... What a joy and blessing it will also be to maybe take him to the temple again to assist him in performing other ordinances down the road.          

Keep up the hard work. It's still snowing where I'm at, so I hope you all continue to enjoy the warm weather. 

I pray for you guys daily. I love you all.

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

January 13th

Family,

 

This week has been interesting to say the least. Elder Gonzalez and I were able to set another baptismal date for one of our investigators, A____, for the month of April. We set the date that far ahead because he has the desire to be baptized, but he has problems with the law of chastity- as in he lives with his wife and both aren't married... So we told him he will need to show his faith in order to turn to God and make the decision for himself whether or not he wants to get married, be separated, etc. We know that he will make the right decision on this matter as long as he remains faithful.

We have also been having a little difficulty with B_____ as well. After teaching him a couple more lessons during the week, he shows the desire to want to know more. But he has been struggling on keeping commitments as far as attending church and reading is concerned...

 

(Funny story)- This past Saturday, Elder Gonzalez and I were able to take one of the youth to come work with us for the whole day. His name is F____, a recent convert of only 3 months. Anyways, as we picked him up from his house, he was dressed with nice clothes, new shoes and all that. We warned him that his clothes might get a little dirty because we would be riding bikes but he didn't bother to listen to us. We ended up biking a 5-10 miles that day in the freezing New England rain. We were completely drenched and freezing the entire day! Talk about hating the missionaries, haha. Nonetheless, he loved coming out to work with us, he was a trooper! But after that experience, we are just hoping he will even want to serve a mission, lol. I know he will though:)

 

I am taking Hermana Berthelson's advise from the last letter she wrote and am going to ask you guys to pray also for our investigators and certain individuals here in Providence by name

Please Pray for:

Investigators 

AR- He may make the right decision on his marriage situation to become closer to God and baptism

BA- He can keep commitments and attend church in order to receive revelation

Members

ND- She may be comforted during the trial she is encountering as her husband is slowly passing away from cancer

 

 

Karen- What a cool story! You are able to do missionary work without almost realizing it. That was cool how that woman on the phone brought up something online that you probably posted a while ago. Anyways, thanks for the glue-ins and the talk as well. I'll let you know when I receive them. Have fun in BR! Let the Hathaways know how much I care for them as well! I'm sure their family is very appreciative of all the things you do for them.

 

Jazz- Keep working hard. Te quiero:) jaja 

 

I will also do my part and pray for certain individuals. 

 

I hope you guys have a good week, have fun with the Hathaways in LA!

 

Keep working hard. Love you guys. Go Pats!

January 6th

Family,

 

Thank you guys for your testimonies and powerful messages- (jazzy w/ the message on priesthood) that you guys have written to me this past week. I too have had a great week with amazing experiences as well. One of which happened just last week when we were teaching one of our previous investigators, whose name is B___. He's a 17 year old Dominican kid who lives in the "projects." He was taught many times by the missionaries before we started working with him, but he never really progressed. So a couple weeks prior we just simply asked him what principle he wanted to know more about, and he told us he was interested on knowing more about the Plan of Salvation. So last week, we were able to have a lesson on that topic, and while I was bearing testimony of our Savior towards the end of the lesson, I had a direct prompting to invite him to be baptized at that moment (we never planned on setting a baptismal. date for him since its been so long since we worked with him). He accepted the baptismal invitation for the next month in February. 

 

It's amazing to know how promptings by the holy spirit work in our lives. I know that they are direct messages from the Lord that come by certain thoughts or feelings we have, that prompts us to make decisions that will ONLY lead to the BEST outcomes. Specifically what I experienced this past week with B____, it just "clicked" for me to extend that invitation to him. The thought that also came to my mind as well (that dad might also be familiar with) goes as- "Some may not want to go to the party, but everyone wants to receive the invite..." 

 

I'm blessed to also be working with an amazing companion as well, Elder Gonzalez (from Salt Lake, grew up in Mexico). This guy has really helped me reach my fullest potential when it comes to working hard on the mission and epecially gaining spiritual knowledge. I already mentioned to you guys how he has a photographic memory, knows many languages, etc. but he also has many other incredible gifts that are absolutely amazing as well. (I will refrain from writing it in this letter in due respect to him). But nonetheless, he has helped me to become the best I can be, which is an amazing blessing to me in my life.

 

 

Karen- It was pretty funny when I got my package because I opened it up and the first thing I pull out is the chocolates, that were all melted... that's how I knew it was shipped from AZ:) But thank you again for the package. I'm sure the other missionaries appreciate the little things that you do for them as well. Before I thought it was weird that you would go out of your way to buy goofy ties or little things like that for the sis/elders, but now I kind of understand, kind of:)

 

 

Thank you guys for all your love, prayers, and support. I am starting to see the changes in many lives here on my mission, especially my own. Keep working hard this week. I love you guys. 

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

December 9th

A little experience I had last Tuesday, Elder Gonzalez and I were out on our bikes in downtown Providence making some visits with the previous investigators we found in our area book. While we were riding on a downhill slope next to the Prov capital building, a lady pulled out of a parking lot at a pretty fast speed and I'm assuming she never saw me. Smack! She ended up running over my bike while I ended up flying on top of her car. I thought it looked pretty ridiculous until I realized the damage it did to my bike... She offered to fill out paperwork for the damage (I just ended up switching for a better bike). Anyways, I was just grateful it was the bike that got damaged and not me. A miracle that I walked away from that uninjured or unharmed. 

Later that night I was able to have Lobstah for the first time on my mission here in New England. Finally! Jose Fernandez (one of the people I'm definitely going to re-visit after my mission!) made us lobster and crab for dinner. It was soooo good! By far my favorite meals. Dad- It was one of those things that made me think of our dog trips and eating Tia's over in Boston. 

F____ was able to be confirmed a member yesterday, which was awesome. There wasn't too much that happened this week as far as the work is concerned, but this time of year is great for us because all our teachings and lessons are being focused on the Lord and His birth. It's exciting to share this wonderful message because I know it brings great peace and joy to all who are willing to listen and put their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 .....

 

Karen- It sounds like you had a busy week this week. .....That is amazing how many temples you visited! Its cool to see all the places that you normally go to for work and then see all the temples that are pretty much in that same area. I'm sure its been a great blessing for you to attend all the time that you have. Keep it up K!

 

......

 

It's also great to see some of the missionaries plan to either get ready or plan on leaving for their missions, ex. Kennedy Coley, Gabby, Devin H. Missionary work is continuing to grow which is awesome.

 

I ask if you guys could please pray in behalf of one of our ward family members. F_____, and his wife L______. This family is suffering a lot. L____ suffered from a mild stroke she had last week, while F____ is also temporarly blind due to diabetes. They have a little daughter as well, so this time of the year is very tough for this family. Please keep them in your prayers.

 

Keep doing what you guys do. Work hard. Love you guys.

December 2nd

Family,

I am doing really well.  We have been constantly working and progressing day in and day out. My Thanksgiving was also pretty good, I was able to have dinner with a member family of our ward, la familia H____. It was a traditional american-style turkey Thanksgiving like normal, but I was able to say all the things I was grateful for around the dinner table in spanish. It was different, but I liked it.

I also had the incredible opportunity to ordain A____ with the Aaronic priesthood last Tuesday and so he was able to bless the sacrament yesterday for the first time in sacrament meeting. Not only was he able to do that, but he was able to say it in spanish! It was such a cool experience for him. We also have a temple trip coming up in another 2 weeks or so (around Christmas), so I will also have the opportunity to go with him to do baptisms! It's just incredible to see his spiritual progression and for me to be the one to witness all of it.  

Another great experience I had, yesterday my companion, Elder Gonzalez, was able to baptize F____ H____. The spirit was so strong as F____later bore his testimony in front of everyone after the baptismal ordanance. It was great to be a part of the baptism and to be able to work with F_____, who already has such a strong testimony. 

I'm very blessed to have had the experiences that I've had this past week. I am also blessed to say that my spanish is actually improving a lot more than it has been before. I really struggled for the longest time with the language, but I figured I would try President Hinkley's promise, which was to read the entire Book of Mormon out loud in a different language (spanish- for me). I only started this a couple weeks ago and made it a goal to finish the BoM by the end of the year. I have complete faith in this promise. I know I can do it:)

President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: “Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. …

“… Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts … the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God” (“The Power of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, June 1988, 6; see also “The Book of Mormon,” Tambuli, Oct. 1988, 7).

Thank you guys for all of your messages! I'll continue to pray for those certain individuals in my personal prayers. I'm blessed to hear all is going well. Keep it up. Love you guys.

Thanksgiving Week

This week has been really busy for me, which is awesome. 

My companion, Elder Gonzalez and I have confirmed the baptismal date for F____ H. for this Sunday, so we will have yet another baptism! It is really exciting to be working in this new area that I'm in, there's so much work to be done. We are also working with 5 other investigators: L____, M____, E____, B____, and J_____. We've set a baptismal date for L_____ to be baptized next month on the 29 of Dec and Magali and Elizabeth both show a lot of interest in the gospel. So ever since I came to this area of Providence, I've pretty much been teaching lessons non-stop. It's great! I never knew missionary work would be so exhausting-spiritually, physically and mentally, but it is definitely worth it. 

So to give you an idea of how Elder Gonzalez is (my new companion), he is pretty much intelligent, which is an understatement... The kid is 18 years old, knows 6 languages, and has already been accepted to Princeton and is planning to go there after his mission. And another thing as well, he also has photographic memory- for real. So he never forgets anything, even the smallest of details that occurs. It's nuts! It's almost like I'm working along side with a computer haha. But he is a fantastic missionary non the less. He has already taught me so much from just a few short days I've been able to work with him. We are able to work well with each other and hopefully we'll continue to do so.

As you guys have heard as well, I was able to meet Chase and his family this past Friday. They took us out to lunch in downtown Providence and we had a great time. They told me how great you guys are (Karen and Dad) and how much they loved having you guys visit. The Richardsons told me how much they especially loved Karen and how much they were thankful for the hotel hookups. So I was like "yep that's my step-mom" :) But yeah we had some good laughs and it was nice to have spent some time with my former companion, he is just a solid guy. I know we'll continue to have a good friendship as well. 

Despite the arctic temperatures that are already occurring here in NE, everything is going well. I'm still on bikes too, so it feels even more cooler outside........

 

With this week being Thanksgiving, there is so much to be grateful for. I am thankful for the work of the Lord and I know that it has really blessed so many people including us. I'm thankful for the support of family and friends through good and bad times that have occurred in my life, both recently and in the past. And I'm thankful for this gospel and how many people I've been able to touch because of it.

November 20 Transfers

The missionaries have transfers every six weeks.  When they have a transfer, they might stay in the same apartment, they might get a new companion, they might have nothing change, or they might move out of the area and to a completely new area in their mission boundaries and have a new companion.  This week was transfer week for Alex.  He got a new apartment and a new companion.....


My week has been pretty crazy! First, I was able to have the privilege of hearing Elder Gifford Nielsen (70, one that spoke at conference) speak to us at our zone conference last Friday in Hartford, Conn. It was awesome to hear him speak to us live, and he also shared a lot of his thoughts about how he was inspired to share his particular message, in conference, about exclamation points! haha. He talked a lot about missionary work and said that the Lord has called us (missionaries) to serve in a specific time and a specific place that is directly given through revelation. The word revelation made me realize even more about how important my call was and the responsibilities I have serving in specific areas that I am assigned. And with that, I also received my first transfer this past week.

I will be serving in Providence, RI (downtown), just 5 miles south of my original place from central falls, haha. Though I'll still be serving in the same ward, I'm going to be able to be in a different area working with different people as well. My new companion's name is Elder Gonzalez. I've already known him from before since we have already been serving in the same district for a couple months now. He's a good guy, really smart as well. I'm excited to work with him. We already have 2 baptismal dates set up for the month of December (L____ and F____) and hopefully we'll continue to have more later on. I'm pumped for that!


Jazzy- Elder Holland is always amazing! That is so cool you got to see him speak to you guys. I remember back in June when I was able to attend the world wide broadcast for all the mission presidents (when I was in the mtc) and I got to see Elder Holland conduct that meeting. It was such a cool experience. Even though I didn't have front row seats like you- (I was in the highest part of the stadium, nosebleeders) I won't ever forget that time of hearing him, along with most of the 12 apostles speak in person. That quote is so true as well, "kick when you don't want to kick and stroke when you don't want to stroke" That's basically what we do everyday, haha. Keep pushing the work forward. Glad to see the progress of your investigators as well, that is awesome!