Elder Berto comes home

 Elder Berto got to fly home from Boston with some of the missionaries that he served with.  There were 30 missionaries that were getting released today, as well as President and Sister Packard.  Elder Slade was one that extended his mission to be released with President Packard and was a big part of the reason why Elder Berto extended as well.

 

Elder Villar, Elder Berthelson's last companion, is from Chile.  His sweet mama sent some Chilean candy for Jasmine to enjoy.  She was so excited!  Thank You!!!

 

First stop for this kid was Portillo's.  

 

We had just finally gotten Galaga fixed the week before he came home (Thanks Carl!) and Alex was so excited to try and beat his dad's high score.

 

IN THE POOL!  and boy is he WHITE!

 

Elder Berto officially getting released from his mission by President Weathersby.  No more missionary tag!

June 15th

Family,

Thank you for all your letters and support. 

Dad, I received your letter in the mail this past week and I'll be sure to look for the last remaining ones in the mail at some point either this week or next. And Karen, thank you for the offer on the new phone! I kind of feel spoiled lol but at the same time I am truly grateful and blessed:) Again, thank you guys.

I can't believe the time has come to this. I only have 2 weeks remaining... But because the Lord has blessed me to endure to the end, I will have the privilege to be a part of another baptism held in our ward this upcoming Saturday. This is for an ex-communicated member, ______, who has been faithful and worthy to re-enter into the waters of baptism. This is someone who the missionaries have been working with for a long time. And now he has finally been approved by Salt Lake City to become a member again. We are all excited for him! 

Everyone will find out their new companions this Friday, and then next week on Saturday (June 27th) is when we will hold our transfer meeting. It will be the farewell for President Packard, his family, and 30 other missionaries that are going home as well. I am grateful to have been companions with Elder Villar. He has strengthened my testimony and has helped me grow, even only during the 2 months that I've been with him. To be honest, I believe he has taught me more than I have been able to teach him. He has been one of my favorite companions by far! I know why the Lord has put us together during this time.   

As I explained in my last email, this will most likely be my final email that I will write to you all on my mission. Elder Villar, A___ D______, and I are planning to make the trip to Boston next week for my final P-Day. No better way to end the mission than being in the city I love, while being with Villar and my other best friend A____, who I had the opportunity to literally see change his life by accepting the gospel! It's a storybook ending for a roller coaster ride of a mission that I experienced. No doubt, we'll have a great time:) 

I will end it all with my testimony that I know that our Savior lives and loves us. I've come to a knowledge of these truths by the Holy Spirit. It is real. This gospel is real. People do change by accepting Jesus Christ in their lives, I am a witness to that. I am a witness to the power of the Atonement. I have been able to exercise it myself and experience the divinity and power of the atonement on my mission. At a certain point of my mission, I have felt the lowest I've ever felt in my life. Only coming to realize later on that it was only to experience true joy, in a sense. That is what this gospel is all about. The Lord humbled me to know this. It's not about me, it's not about the personal gain, or popularity, or any of that. No, it's about the Lord and being a  blessing for his children. This is my purpose as a Saint and a servant of the Lord. It is my humble testimony that I know this church is true. And how blessed I am to have been raised into this church by an amazing family to help me get to this point in my life! 

I accomplished His work as a Full-Time Representative of Jesus Christ here in New England by the hand of the Lord. And for this, I couldn't be any happier.

Pat, I will hopefully be seeing you and your family soon! Jazzy, I can't wait to give you a big hug as well:)

This is it. See you all in 2 weeks! Les Quiero mucho! 

​Go Sox! 

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

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

Final Transfers, April 6th

Family,

I received my final transfers earlier this week. The Lord has called me to serve in Franklin, MA Spanish-Speaking for my final months on the mission!! It is 45 min South of Boston, right next to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, and 30 min North of my first area in Providence. It is perfect. I will also be a District Leader and Training my new companion who is a native speaker from... CHILE!! I am so excited!!! This is the way the Lord wanted me to end the mission:) Although I did not have a chance to actually serve in the city of Boston, this opportunity is much better. I'm blessed to train a new missionary, which will allow me to apply all the things I've been able to learn as a missionary throughout the past two years. The geographic area doesn't matter either, it's all about the people I will be able to bless. This is definitely the way to end it!

I hope you all took the time to reflect upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during this past Easter weekend while also watching General Conference:) I love General Conference and it helped strengthened my testimony on what I can do to improve in my own personal life to draw me closer to my Savior. He lives and he loves us. I also can't believe the time that has gone by knowing that this was the final time I would be able to watch conference as a full time missionary. The time is going by each day...

I believe that the Packards are hosting a video chat with all the parents next Sunday on April 12th, which sounds pretty exciting. I will also let you know more details next week about my new area and how everything goes with my new companion from Chile. Again, I am way excited for what's about to take place!

Thank you for all your love and support. Les Quiero Mucho!   

PS. I did not go to New York City, we went into the New York within the mission boundries:)

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

 

 

March 9th

Family,

Thank you for all your emails and responses back. Like I mentioned to you from my letter a couple days ago, I decided to extend my mission! I am so excited to know that I will have the opportunity to finish the rest of my mission with President Packard and the rest of his family. I also believe that I will have even more opportunities to see greater miracles happen because of this. I don't know what or when this will happen, but I am certainly anticipating what is yet to come for me and for those that I will be able to serve with for these last few months.  

This past Saturday, M___ M___ was baptized! She is an older woman who is related to a recent convert that was baptized just a few months prior back in November. The recent convert, G____ W_____, was converted to the church because one day he came across an LDS ad on the internet. The song "Glorious" by David Archuleta was the ad that was on the internet and he felt moved by the song. He is a veteran from the Vietnam War and never really had any interest in religion, until he heard that song and decided to call the missionaries about our faith. He ended up getting baptized just a short time later, and is now one of our strongest members of the ward with such an incredible testimony. He was the one who was able to introduce M_____ into the church and is now helping hasten the work by trying to convert the rest of his family! So that is where we are right now, by helping G____ to introduce the gospel to the rest of his family:)

Not too much has been going on since the last time I wrote. This past week all the missionary leaders in the mission went to the Temple, which was an awesome experience as always. That was the time and place where I also received greater insight on deciding whether or not it would be worth extending the mission time. The Temple really is a sacred place where we can be able to receive direct answers to questions we desire to receive. I'm blessed to have those opportunities to attend the Temple on my mission.

Thanks for the pics and the updates on the missionaries serving in the ward. I can't believe Holden is already planning to come home this Wednesday... I also can't believe March Madness is already starting up! Great time of the year, no doubt. 

......... But until then, keep up the great work. I look forward to hearing from you guys soon.  

Les Quiero Mucho! 

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

March 7th

Family,

I have been given permission and was encouraged to write this letter to all of you. This is to let everyone know that I have been invited by the Mission Presidency to extend my mission for an extra transfer (5 weeks) from my original date, which was on May 22nd. Being a Spanish Missionary, my original date of release technically falls closer to my 2 year mark on June 5th. But since that date from when I left the MTC to my two-year service falls in between transfers, they have given me the decision to choose whether or not I wanted to extend. So with this being said, I have thought and prayed heavily on this matter and decided to extend my service to the Lord. My release will now be on June 29th. 

As I mentioned, I prayed a lot on this matter and took all things into consideration. It was a difficult decision because I understand that travel plans were already made and I know how excited (esp. Karen) is to have me come home. This may also affect the potential job offer that Dad had planned for me. I do know though that my mission has given me so much growth and so many blessings that it would also be difficult for me not to take up this offer. I will be finishing my mission at the same time as President Packard and his family. This is a sprint for all of us to the end.  

Please email me back as soon as possible with any comments or other things that I should be aware of. I will continue to keep everyone updated to figure out the alternative plans to all this. But until then, keep going! 

I love you all.    

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)

 

February 2nd

Family,

Despite the two blizzards we had during the week, we were still able to accomplish a ton! As a Zone, we were able to reach a total of 51 New Investigators for the month of January, which is the all time record for this area of the mission! President Packard was so thrilled about our efforts that he himself and his wife attended our Stake Conference this past weekend and gave us a shout-out about our accomplishments. (Keeping in mind that this time of the year is the worst time to find people to teach along with our Zone being the largest geographical region in the mission). He called this area of the mission, "The New Jerusalem" because of the unity that we have as both missionaries and ward members here in this area of New England. Honestly, we really have been busy with finding new investigators and with having several teaching appointments, just in my area alone. The next step for all of us is to set baptismal dates for those that are ready to make that covenant of baptism. It really is a fantastic to see the blessings that come from the Lord.

One of our investigators that we are working with, J___ C___, was a former investigator that previous missionaries were working with about eight years ago. Assuming he wasn't alive anymore, since his teaching records showed that he was in his 80's at the time, we still decided to knock on his door anyways to see if anyone else lived there. We found out that he was actually still living on his own at 90 years old. We also found out that he was a WWII vet that served in the Marines in Japan. He was one of the ones that raised one of the flags on Iwo Jima when America won the war. J____ also ended up coming to Stake Conference this past weekend, which was awesome too! He is actually one of the coolest investigators I've been able to work with since he has so many stories to tell. Great guy for sure. We are also teaching M___ M____, V___ V_____, M__ A____ and Y___ R____ and her kids as well.    

We are working hard everyday. This week will be filled with leadership meetings and counsels as well. Hopefully the snow will stop for us at some point. But other than that, enjoy that southern climate because I'm sure freezing out here. It won't be too much longer though.

Keep working hard in all that you do. One of these days I will send some pictures....

Les Quiero Mucho!

Go Pats!!!! 2015 Super Bowl Champs, woooo!! :) 

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

December 15th

Family,

It was a good week this week. We had a lot of meetings scheduled for all the leaders in the mission with regards to what our plans will be, or our "next step," from the goal that we were able to accomplish from the last month with 100 baptisms. Long story short, I was able to contribute and share some of my ideas to President Packard and the rest of the mission on what we should do. I was very blessed to feel inspired to speak out during our meeting and to contribute to the plans that are about to take place for us here in the MBM.  

With this month in December, the mission has another goal by taking 100 of our recent converts (those who were baptized from last month or months prior) to the temple by Dec. 27th! Its also required that these individuals who are planning to go to the Temple will need to take a family name to do baptisms. We are already planning on taking one of our members here in Nashua to the temple. I'm still working to see if A____

will be able to attend to do baptisms with us as well:) "Missionary work through missionary work!" We also have our Mission Christmas Party that's happening this Friday. It really is an exciting time for our mission right now.   

Other than that, I don't really have a whole lot to say for this week... We had our Christmas Pageant that took place here in our ward this past weekend. It was a re-inactment of the live Nativity, outside in the freezing cold. It felt like the whole town was pretty much involved, which was really neat. It reminded me a lot of the Nativity performance that we did back in Bolingbrook. Yep, I still remember being one of the shepherds in the performance and yes, I was "that" kid who played with the goats. Great times:)     

 

Dad/Karen- Thanks for the San Diego letter and the 2015 calenders. Although the Chargers will not make the playoffs this year, there will always be next year for sure! Glad to know that you guys are also taking care of Cambria and Hunter. That's great how you were able to take them to the temple! :) 

Jazzy- Can't wait for Christmas!!!! I wrote you a seperate email. Just let me know what time will work best for you:)

 

I'm blessed to know that all is going well back home. Also to know that Jazzy will be all good to go when she goes home... I'm sure you guys can hardly wait for her!

 

Have a great week. Love you guys!

 

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

November 10th

Family,

 

This week was a good week. I have definitely been uplifted spiritually after meeting with President Packard last Wednesday, along with other events that occurred throughout the week. I'm also very blessed to know that a lot of my concerns and questions that I have prayed about are being answered, in various ways. And dad, yes the weeks are flying by. Sometimes it's almost going by too fast... I just have to enjoy the moments, both good and not so good. Like yesterday, it was really disappointing to see that none of our investigators were able to attend church. Even after having a solid lesson the day before with our investigator, A___ B____, we were able to testify so strong about the Restoration and later we ended up extending a baptismal invitation for her for the end of November. She accepted but obviously still felt hesitant about it. The only way to know how committed people are to accept the gospel in their lives is if they are willing to keep those commitments and have the faith to act on it. Again, pretty disappointing as far as the work is concerned... Elder Lee and I are going to continue to have strong hopes and pray for those that have baptismal dates for this month. (A___ and S___). And of course, I gotta remember to enjoy it!   

 

I'm glad that you guys were able to enjoy the time with everyone in Palm Springs over the weekend! Everyone looks great:) It looks like dad has been hitting the weights at the gym- keep it up man! I'm sure Trevor is also tearing it up for his team in Pasadena. That's awesome.

Dad- I'm looking forward to your letter like always! Thanks for sending those. I honestly believe that the concept of sports can be applied to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Every time I speak with a youth that is interested in sports, I always relate back and compare the concepts of either football, basketball, etc. (whatever their interests) to the gospel. So when you sent me the letter, "blocking and tackling" analogy, it was clear to me because of the experiences that I've gone through growing up playing football. So again, thank you for that.     

 

Karen- It seems like so many people are getting married. Crazy! Speaking of the married crew, how are guys like Rex Bale, Bubba or Derek Gunter doing? I have not been able to contact them at all throughout my mission. I need to write them a letter or something. If you could email me an address or email that would be awesome:)

 

Jazz- Hope you had a great birthday!! I'm sure you were able to disfrutar pastel y hacer muchas cosas locas para tu cumpleanos. jaja. Espero que tuvieras una buena semana y continuar a trabajar duro!

 

I'm blessed that you all are happy and well! That is what I am thankful for, as Thanksgiving is already approaching in the next week and a half. Let Jazz and I know about your guys' plans for that. Are you all still planning to spend time with the Dodd's during Thanksgiving?

 

Have a great week. Les Quiero Mucho!     

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

November 3rd

Family,

I am doing great! As I mentioned to you guys in my email last week, Elder Lawrence from the 70 and our Mission President were able to meet with all the leaders from the mission last Wed and again for our Mission Conference that we had on Fri. So this week was all about getting further insight on what needed to be done to improve the work for our entire mission and ways that we could also improve ourselves as missionaries. As for the mission, it was inspired by President Packard to have the goal of achieving 70 baptisms for the month of November alone, which is a milestone for the mission- something that has never been done before. So this is the big topic of discussion that has been taken in consideration for all the missionaries in the MBM to accomplish this vision of breaking the record for the number of baptisms. 

We were also able to receive further insight when Elder Lee and I both had the opportunity to get interviewed by E. Lawrence. We just discussed ways on how we could strengthen the efforts of our Zone in New Haven and how we could work better with church leaders such as our stake president, etc. Not too thrilling, but definitely a neat experience to have a member of the general authority meet with you on a personal level. This week we also have one on one interviews with President Packard, so starting tomorrow we will have to prepare for when he comes to do interviews for the zone. There's just a lot of mental and spiritual preparation that is taken into account every time we meet with these leaders of the church. It is tiring but definitely fulfilling.

We are continuing to work hard everyday. Something exciting that has been going on is that our investigator, S_____, is coming back from China this Saturday so hopefully we will be able to meet with him soon. His family is taking more interest in the church as well. All of them have been showing more and more interest, they even came to church on their own without Steve (the father). It would be sweet to see this entire family have the opportunity to accept the gospel in their lives. To witness an entire family getting baptized would truly be a miracle!

I'm blessed to know that everyone is doing great as well.

Dad- I got the letter. You are "the guy!" lol. Thank you so much for your advice, I will definitely keep an open mind to what you wrote to me. I am also pounding it hard at the gym. Hopefully I will come back the way I was, we'll see how everything works out.

Karen- I got the baked goods. Lee says that the banana bread is pretty good lol. Thanks for thinking of us. 

Jazzy- Feliz Cumplianos!!!!! Can't believe you are 22... Where does the time go?? Anyway, I hope you enjoy your b-day and the rest of your week! I sent you a letter in the mail, I hope its not like the Hampton's letter that takes a full year to get out there haha. 

Enjoy the rest of your week. Keep working hard. I love you guys!  

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

September 22nd

Family,

I am doing well. This week was all about our Stake Conference and promoting the "game plan" to encourage members and missionaries to work together in the New Haven Stake. I feel like this concept is basically what I've preached my whole mission along with the gospel lol. Also, this past Saturday, Elder Lee and I had to give a training to all the Ward Mission Leaders on how to develop an effective ward mission plan. It was sorta intimidating because President Packard was in attendance for our training, but it turned out really well. We were in a business type setting being with all the big name leaders in the stake, another including Elder Snow, who is a member of the 70. He was the one that spoke at our Stake Conference and we also had the opportunity to have dinner with him before the Adult session of our conference. So this weekend was pretty crazy for us... but it was awesome!  

As far as the work goes, we have our baptism for our investigator, B______, that is all set up for this Saturday. We are pumped for that! 

Thank you for your letters and emails. 

Dad- There is no such thing as overdoing it with the subway gift cards. That is basically all I eat when it comes to eating out, so I appreciate it! Also the with the Chargers, Cards and Pats winning this weekend there are definitely son complaints on the topic of football. Its still too bad that the Red Sox aren't making it this year for the playoffs... But your right though, there is always next season. I'm already stoked for the upcoming 2015 season!! 

Karen- Wisconsin still looks the same:) Glad you were able to take pics of the old place. Great memories for sure!

Jazzy- Keep doing what you do lol. Te quiero hermana!

I apologize for the short email. I am typing all this out at the apple store at Yale University here in downtown New Haven. Its pretty sweet. I've had a great P-Day so far and looking forward to another great week working with one of my best friends on the mission, E. Lee. This guy is a stud. I'm blessed to be his companion:)  Dad you are right, I am called where I'm called for a reason. New England is all about the people for sure! 

Thank you for all your love and support. I love you all!

Pics- Recent Convert Temple Trip from a few weeks ago. 

Few Pics from today's P-Day! We were able to hit the range earlier this morning (first time swinging the clubs since back home:) And Elder Watson, who is an RM, took us out to lunch with his family before heading to NY for the MNF game tonight.