May 4th

Family,

Its already May.... and it's 80 degrees and sunny today. Finally! If the mission has taught me one thing its to appreciate the tender mercies the Lord blesses us with. With the brutal winter we had, it sure is nice to enjoy good weathah. I now know what it takes to be a true New Englandah. Its no wonder why the people are tough out here too lol.

This week was an awesome week! We picked up an entire family of investigators, the L_____ family. D___, a 13 year old kid, is the only one in the family that is pretty much interested in investigating and wants to be baptized. We have plans to extend the invitation for him and the rest of his family for baptism for the next time that we see them. We are also working with the T____ family. They have been investigating the church for quite a while now and the missionaries in the past have not had good luck working with them. It is our goal to simply invite them to our Spanish Group (which they came this Sunday!) and to slowly work with the father. He has been the one who has been stubborn with the missionaries in the past and is not very open with them, we'll see though. Another family that has been our focus as well is the C_____ family. We plan to see them later tonight. It's also our goal to invite the family to attend the Spanish Group and extend that invitation for baptism at some point in the near future... We are also working with several other individuals. M____ A____, T___ H_____, and M___ H___B___, all of which have great potential too. 

So as the mission comes to a close, I am aware of the trend or the focus of what the Lord expects of me to accomplish in my final area. The focus of families. Two of which may also make the difference for our little Spanish Group as well. I am going out on a full sprint to the finish line. It does not matter whether or not any of these people accept baptism (right away), as long as I am willing and committed to doing everything possible to help them progress spiritually in their lives and allowing them that opportunity to come unto Christ.

Elder Villar is doing great! We had a cool experience last Wednesday as we went to the Temple to do an Endowment session. All the trainers and trainees in the mission have the cool opportunity to do a session at the temple with one another. So that was pretty special. This Thursday we also have our final interviews with President Packard in the mission home. This will be the final time that everyone else in the mission will be able to meet one on one with him (not including my departing interview next month). I'm looking forward to it. 

Thanks for all your letters. It's exciting to know that Dad will be able to work at the Temple! And I had no idea that my companion Elder Smith was related to Scott Smith, I wish I could've made that connection before... I figured he would've known someone from the north canyon ward since he also lives in Glendale. 

It's sounds like everyone is doing great for the most part. It's sad to hear that there are some people that we know are struggling right now. Continue to keep them in your prayers and find ways to reach out and serve them. 

Continue to work hard in all that you do. Remember how blessed we are and that the Lord loves all of us. 
Les Quiero Mucho!       

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

February 9th

Family,

Thanks for all the updates on what's been happening. That's exciting for dad how he has a new calling as a ward clerk. Perfect- Now I can make sure to pay my tithing in pennies when I get home:) lol. Glad to know that Jazzy is doing well in BA and attending the temple out there as well. 

This past week was pretty exciting! Elder Terry and I were able to set 2 baptismal dates this week. Our first one with M___ ____ and the other with M___ A____. It was amazing because M____ has been investigating the church since June of last year, and this past week she was able to self-commit herself to be baptized in March! It really was a miracle for us that she was able to do that. M_____ plans to be baptized on March 7th and M_____ for the following week on March 15th. We will be praying that everything goes well for them. Also, we were able to meet with another one of our other investigators, V____ V_____, as of yesterday. We extended a baptismal invitation for her and she simply told us she was going to pray about a date. She knows that its true, she just needs to pray for a time when she feels like she would be ready. This next month will be the month when all our baptisms will be in check, for everything that we have planned for. The goal of the mission (if I hadn't already mentioned it yet) is to bring 420 people to the waters of baptism by the end of June, or when President Packard goes home. This means that as a mission we are working our tails off doing everything we can to extend baptism and to help these people come unto Christ. It truly will be amazing when we will accomplish this goal. I know and the Lord knows that we are capable of achieving it. This has been one of the coolest concepts I've been able to learn on my mission, how to set goals and prioritize my time to accomplish them. 

Last week we also had our Zone Meeting, which went great! We really do have great missionaries in our Zone. Everyone is way excited and is working hard. For this upcoming week, we also plan to extend baptism to a couple of our other investigators that we are working with, including J_____. We are pumped for what is yet to come.

Tomorrow is the day when we plan to have our one on one interviews with President Packard. This will possibly be my last interview that I will have with him before my departing interview in a few months... crazy how much time is going by.

Even with the weather being as miserable as it is, I am blessed to know that I can still rely upon the Lord to help me bear challenges as such. And to answer dads question, my health is good. I don't work out at a gym anymore, I just do daily exercises in the apartment. My weight is pretty much the same... I am not really gaining muscle. This is just part of the sacrifice I need to endure on my mission though. I don't think the Lord intended for me to be physically strong over the course of my mission but for me to rather gain greater mental/spiritual strength. That is the point of all of this. I will just hit it hard again at the gym when I return home.   

Thanks for the blanket by the way! I received it today. Glad to know that everyone is doing well and is working hard.

Les Quiero Mucho! 

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

Pic 1: The Candelario family with other missionaries

Pic 2: Elder Lee  

Pic 3: Elder Smith

Pic 4: The Blanchette family

Pic 5: Missionaries in the Springfield Zone!

(My companion, Elder Terry, is on the very left with the glasses)

 

August 25th

Family,

I am doing well as always:) I am blessed to be kept safe as well. Dad- I heard about the earthquake that happened in Northern Cal. That's crazy! Be safe on your travels. I can say the same for myself as well. 

Last week Monday for our P-Day, after playing beach volleyball down in Bridgeport, my companion and I got into a minor car accident coming back from the beach. I was asleep in the passenger's seat so I didn't really see everything, but we are O.K. nonetheless. Because of the damage that was done to the car (we were hit in bumper to bumper traffic) Elder Ripplinger and I had to ride bikes for the majority of the week. Basically I've been riding bikes for my ENTIRE MISSION, they just can't take me off those things haha. Heavenly Father just wants me to stay fit I guess:) But because we didn't have a car, we were able to pick up a new investigator on the street, T___ R_____, who was thoroughly interested in hearing our message. We ended up teaching him our purpose as missionaries and we have a return appointment with him tomorrow; along with another investigator, M_____, that we were able to shortly meet yesterday. We are blessed to- First, have safety in our travels. And second, to be given opportunities to share the gospel, even in the most inconvenient situations that were presented to us. Last Friday, we ended up getting a replacement car because of the amount of area that we cover and the other responsibilities that we have. So we will not have any further problems when it comes to our efforts in the Lord's work. Plus I'll be the one driving from now on.

I was able to do the Confirmation for L____ yesterday. It is always a joy being able to exercise my Priesthood Responsibilities and to receive promptings from the spirit that are strong. This week as well, I was able to study a lot about faith and how our firm belief in Christ will determine the outcome of any given situation that we are faced with... along with answering, of what I believe, the commonly asked question that people have asked us as missionaries is, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" That question relates back to Faith. How it is essential that we are tested and tried in this life in order for spiritual growth to occur and to prove if we will remain faithful unto Him till the end. (Ether 12:27)  

MARTHA BALE IS GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!!!!! I am still shocked even typing this right now!!! And she will be speaking Portuguese!!! :):):) Tell her I said: Parabéns. Você será um missionário incrível!!! (Congrats. You will be an amazing missionary!!) I'm so excited for her as well as for those that are leaving or about to leave soon for their missions. What an amazing experience they will have. 

Karen- Thanks for the pics. All your family seem like their doing great! I thought maybe there was a chance that you were able to hit up Lake Powell as well while you were on your trip lol:) That's great how you were able to be with your family up in CO. Let me know anything I can do to help out with family names as well. FYI pants are great, thank you. And if you could send some music on CD that would be great too!

Dad- Great times and Great memories my man, you know it!! Some places here in CT actually remind me of a little bit like Oakland... Oh sweet seats by the way for the A's game! Glad you were able to enjoy your birthday:) (Don't let me be the one holding you back from the Bay area man. Make sure to go to a Giants game for the next time)

      

​Jazzy- Consejo por la semana- Remember the Acronym: B.O.B.O.D.I. (hint: ​B= Bizness:) hahahaha creed. Te quiero J!

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Thank you guys for all your love and support. It sounds like everyone is happy and doing well. Keep working hard.   

​Les Quiero Mucho!!​

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong