May 24th

Family,

I am writing a quick email tonight because of the Memorial Day holiday. We are blessed to have the opportunity again to attend the Temple early in the a.m. tomorrow!  Although we will be in the Boston area, we're actually spending the rest of the day tomorrow in Cambridge where a group of missionaries and some other Brazilian locals and will be having a huge BBQ and playing soccer. I know that Elder Villar and I will have a blast, it should be a great day:)  

I am doing well. Elder Villar and I are continuing to work hard by helping our investigators progress, poco a poco:) We were also introduced this week to what is known as "Digital Missionary Work." This is a new concept of missionary work that the MBM alone has created, where we can communicate to others using Skype and other social media networks to contact people. We reach out to others through the net to introduce them to the Gospel! And once they are interested in further discussions or baptism, we will be able to contact the local missionaries in that area to further their progression. It's super neat. We are required to do this during the slow hours of the day, and then we go about our normal proselyting work for the remainder of the time. For example, just this past week I was able to Skype with a woman from Italy and also another from Venezuela. As well, I was able to call a guy over the internet from Mexico. So this next week, Elder Villar and I will possibly have the opportunity to share the first discussion over Skype with the two women both from Italy and Venezuela, hopefully by this Tuesday. Its awesome! The work is hastening all over the world.        

I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord, especially the blessings of great church leaders- specifically the bishop of the current ward I am serving. His name is Bishop Doughty. He was able to give me great advice in regard to keep working hard towards the end of my mission. As well, I received the letter from Dad that helped me even greater to understand what I need to do to finish strong. So Dad, thank you for the letter! We will talk about everything soon;)

I want you guys to know how much I love you all. I hope you are not too worried or concerned about me... I know I'm supposed to endure difficult times on the mission for a reason. I only know that this reason is making me stronger and building up my testimony even more. Thank you for all your love and support as well. 

Here is the link to the information for the parent Web-Ex for tonight. http://www.bostonmission.org/events/I hope you are able to get this in time, it starts in 5 minutes from now...

Have a great week. I love you all. BostonStrong!

 

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

March 23rd

Family,

Thank you for all your letters and emails. 9th place isn't so bad for the tournament pool:) LETS GO AZ!!! We'll find out where we are all seeded when it really comes down to it in the final four. 

This week was a pretty normal week as far as working with our current investigators. Unfortunately, it has been kind of rough working with a few of our investigators because of the fact that we had to move some of their baptism dates for the next month, since they will not be ready in time for the baptism dates that we originally had them scheduled for. Yes it is frustrating, but it feels like I have dealt with this many times throughout my mission, so this is nothing too shocking. 

This past Saturday we also went to the Temple to help out with baptisms for our recent converts. G__ W___ was the recent convert that attended from our ward here in Ludlow. He is the man! Talk about a guy who is on fire with his testimony, its him. He usually comes out with us to help us teach lessons about 3-4 times a week and sometimes multiple lessons throughout the day. So he is definitely doing his fair share of missionary work and helping us out too. 

 

I really don't have much else to say this week... other than blessings I am witnessing from even the little moments day to day. Because of this, I am happier and feel better about the progress we are making in the work.  

I also emailed Karen about my interests on where I want to attend college. I thought and prayed about it and feel pretty set in attending BYU-I for the fall and winter semesters. I will need to get more information about it and start picking classes once I am also decided about a specific major I want to pursue.

Sounds like everyone is doing great. Congrats Jazzy on your acceptance to LSU!!! Por Fin!! I'm way excited for you:) ..........

Thanks for all your support. Continue to keep us updated on the NCAA tourney!! Les quiero mucho!!

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

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.    

March 2nd

Family,

I can't believe its already March... Its one of the best times of the year considering March Madness and Spring Training that's happening right now. I am also doing great! I am working hard and enjoying the blessings that I am receiving as a result from the hard work. I feel like it is all paying off. We were able to set a date with J____ C___ for April 12th. So now we currently have 4 investigators with baptismal dates with 2 more that we will extend a date with hopefully sometime later this week. 

It is going to be a great week this week as well. We have a scheduled temple trip for all the leaders in the mission on Wednesday, so I will have another opportunity to go to the temple! And this Saturday is M___ M___'s baptism, so everyone is looking forward to that.    

Other than that, not too much has been happening... just another week. Glad to know that E Lee and Johnston are back home, crazy to think that.

.............

Thank you for all your letters that you've sent, I look forward to reading those soon! Have a good week. Les quiero mucho!      

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

August 4th

Family,

So this week was basically a week of saying my good-bye's to a few of the families that I had a strong connection with over in Lowell, MA. The G______family especially. I told you guys a little bit about R___ G_____- our Group Leader for the Spanish Group. Him and his family were by far my favorite people in that area. I will definitely take the time to meet with them again; if not on the mission, afterwards for sure! (I only have printed pictures of the families that I visited this past week...)

On Wednesday we were able to receive transfers. My new companion, Elder R______, is pretty cool. He is from Rexburg, Idaho and played basketball and ran track in high school. He also attended a semester of college over at BYU-I. He is a hard, dedicated worker just like myself. I'm definitely going to enjoy working with him, we are already having success being with each other just a few days into the transfer! We have 3 upcoming baptisms for this month alone!

The transition from my last area to serving in a whole new area speaking only English is one of the things that is a challenge for me though... It feels like a whole different mission for me because everything is different- the routine, language, people we work with, exhausting late nights etc. But I love it nonetheless! I also love my Zone! All of us are focused on the goal of finding new investigators since most of our areas were one of the highest baptizing zones in the mission, so we needed to have a "fresh start" for this part of the month. We are all way excited and looking forward to this new goal that we have. It is going to be our responsibility to teach and train these missionaries this week and for us to figure out ways to motivate them in order for them to find more people to teach. 

I had the opportunity to bear my testimony yesterday to my new ward family here in Woodbridge, CT as I expressed my excitement about doing the Lord's work. I was also able to share the blessings that I received from doing so. I know that I am able to receive specific guidance from the Holy Spirit as I am focused by acting on the small things as reading my scriptures and praying with a sincerity of heart to my Heavenly Father. I am also strengthened spiritually as I act on these promptings, which gives me more opportunities to share my testimony with others and to feel the presence of the Holy Ghost more often. 

Thank you for all your letters, it sounds like everyone is doing great!

I love you all!

July 21st

Family,

I really can't believe how fast these weeks are going. Honestly, it feels like the days are flying by, it felt like I just emailed you guys the other day... But this week was really good. We worked so hard to visit all our less actives and we were able to have great success to find a less active family that we've never met, the A_____. We've been trying to reach out to this family for the past 2 months with no luck, but we were finally able to meet them for the first time this past week and it turns out they are way cool. They don't have too much interest in returning to the church, but we were able to talk about their conversion stories and to have them realize the impact the gospel has had in their lives. We are planning to work with them little by little and let the Lord take care of the rest. It's those small miracles in the week that make everything worth it though! Especially when the work is slow, or not going as expected. I am learning how important it is to look for the small successes in the work and to trust in the Lord, no matter the circumstances. We were also able to see the blessings yesterday at church, when we had a total of 43 people attend our sacrament meeting, the most we've had in the group so far! 

We were also able to pick up 2 new investigators this past Tuesday, W_____ and his wife C____ from Puerto Rico. We taught them the Restoration and extended a baptismal invitation. Unfortunately they didn't commit to the baptismal invitation though, but we will continue to work with them. There's 2 more potential investigators that have a lot of interest. It will be our goal to go visit them this upcoming week. So as far as the work is concerned, there are a lot of good potential for this Spanish Group and more success yet to come!  

Thank you for all your letters! I got the letter from Dad. You're the man! And no need for an apologize either, I get pumped every time I receive a letter! I know how special those are, its a thing that I greatly appreciate as well. And yes, we're going golfing at that one course when I get back, no doubt about that! 

 

Karen-   I'll look for your hand-written letter this week in the mail as well. Those pics of Lake Powell and the Phx Temple are amazing. Two places that I also want to go when I get back!

 

Jazz- Those pictures are awesome!! Are those the Andes Mts in the back round? I like the one with the Chilean Flag, that looks sweet!! Sounds like you are doing great as well! Sigue con el trabajo. Espero que todo te vaya bien con tigo! 

We are receiving information on transfers this week. Elder Johnston and I have been together as companions for almost 6 months (about a quarter of our mission). We will see what will happen with this transfer, as far as all that is concerned... I will let you know where next week if there are any changes that occurs.

I know that the Lord has helped strengthened my testimony and given me opportunities to expound my knowledge in the gospel. I've also been greatly blessed to know just how much He wants me to grow and go through difficult times on the mission. This, I know, allows me to depend on Him daily. There are so many times when I feel tired or disappointed but those are the times when I feel I need Him the most. I consider this a blessing to know just how much I can look up to my Father in Heaven and exercise my faith. Because of this, I am able to further understand that everything does happens for a reason. 

Keep up the good work this week. I love you all!        

 

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

April 7th

Family,

I am doing well and I had a good week. Conference was great! I don't think I can express enough about the importance of General Conference and the blessings that come when we follow and act upon the teachings of our Prophet, President Monson, his Apostles and the General Authority. I don't think I could pick out a favorite talk either because they were all way good. I am also blessed to receive a personal witness and testimony of the promptings that I felt as I watched Conference. I know what they said to be true because I received my own confirmation through the power of the Holy Ghost. 

I don't really have too many other things to say. The work is steady right now. This week we just extended a lot of invitations to watch both the Saturday and Sunday sessions of Conference. This week we will be following up with a lot of these people that we extended this invitation to. 

Unfortunately nothing new has happened since I last wrote to you guys from last week. Maybe I'll have a cool story or something for next week.

Dad- I got the package with the letter. Thanks again for that! 5 miles. Wow, you're the guy. Keep it up! 

Karen- Enjoy Palm Springs with Dad. Let the Hampton's and Sis Moser know that I'm doing good.   

Jazz- Te mande un otro correo. Te quiero.

Hathaway Family- Hope you all enjoyed conference! Love you guys.

Have a good week. Keep working hard. I love you guys.   

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

2-12-13, Transfers!

Family,

I recently received transfers... I'll be serving in Nashua, New Hampshire! Never thought I'd end up there (same place from "The Office" haha)... But there is a spanish branch there and it sounds like it is growing fast!

(editor's note - the Spanish Branch that he is referring to is is in Lawrence)

This week has been a crazy week as far as receiving transfers and getting everything ready. I was able to visit a lot of the members over the past few days and it has made me realize how much these people really love the missionaries. I mean REALLY LOVE us. It was tough to say goodbye to a lot of these people becaase I had known them ever since coming out on my mission in July. It has been a blessing knowing these amazing people for the time I did and the blessing it is for me as well to be close enough to where I can visit them after the mission. Those are the plans I have so far.

Again I apologize for the short length letters I've been sending lately. I am planning to take AD out to lunch here in a little bit while also making a few other quick visits later today. With AD, I know that these will be one of the few other times I will probably get to visit with him for a while... (this is because if everything works out according to the way I see it, he could possibly have the opportunity to serve his mission during the time that I will still be on mine). Wouldn't that be something?! :) Unfortunately I was not able to take him to the temple to do baptisms, but he is planning to go to the temple trip next weekend with all the youth. I am thrilled for that guy! What a blessing it was for me to work with him.

I am blessed to know everything is going well back home.

Siguen trabajando duro y siguen teniendo la fe. I love you guys!  

November 4

First and foremost, The Red Sox are World Series Champions!!!! I'm blessed to be serving in an area of what most people call "Strong" or "BostonStrong," which means what happened back in April did not leave a negative impact to Boston, but rather built it up and strengthened the city. The victory for the Red Sox also symbolizes triumph over tragedy. That is why this mission in Boston is perfect for me; it's almost as if these events, such as what has all taken place in Boston since April, could represent me and what I've been going through with my own situation. As for me, by faith, I can overcome trials and be strengthened to also hopefully come out on top and be victorious, just like the Sox!


Not much has been happening since A____ was baptized from a month ago. I still get to work with A____ a lot though, and for me to continue to teach him the discussions is awesome! He is my friend, and if not my best friend on the mission right now:) I'm blessed to be able to witness his progression with the gospel and see his testimony grow as we have also talked about him serving a mission by next year! I'll be here in the NE area to hopefully see him leave and become a missionary just like me. I know he'll be ready to serve by then.

In my actual area right now though, it's been tough.  My comp and I do a lot of less active work in the central falls/pawtucket area of RI. We haven't been able to see progress in the less actives and the members recently haven't been able to work with us. The one investigator that we work with can't progress either, due to an odd marriage situation, he can't be baptized... Its really sad. It's just really frustrating working in this area. The work in this area has just been flat out dull. There's a lot of times where I really wish I could be transferred to the Boston area (first paragraph) or anywhere else for that matter. But then I think of how much I've been able to work with A____ (second paragraph). Again, not only have I been able to bless his life, but he has also been a blessing for me as well. I believe he is the reason why I was chosen to be sent to this random place in RI. It's important to take and recognize the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us.