June 9th

Family,

This week has been a good week. Elder Villar and I were able to visit and teach all of our investigators that we've been working with this past week, which was awesome! D____, M____ and the T_____ Family are the ones that we are continuing to work with. They are progressing little by little. In due time, I know they will accept the gospel in their lives. 

Another exciting thing that happened for us, was that an investigator that our Senior Couple in the ward have been working with for about 6 months, was baptized this past weekend. Her name is Leila. This was the first baptism for this ward in over a year and a half. Although we didn't teach her, Elder Villar and I participated in her confirmation and I also got to conduct her interview for baptism. So that was pretty neat.   

Not much else is happening for us. The time is going faster and faster each day... I basically have the game plan of what I want to accomplish from now until the time I go home in 3 weeks. All my goals have been set and now is the time when I am landing the plane. Which means I will not have any regrets. 

Let me know if there is anything else I need to get done here before I come home. June 22nd is when we will be in Boston for the entire day, so I will most likely write my final email to everyone next week Monday.

​I love you all:) Go Sox! 

​(pic: The Fernandez family, Elder Stones and Elder Slade from the Elder Holland fireside last Sunday)​

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

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

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

April 27th

 

 

Family,

Things are starting to pick up for us in the work! Elder Villar was able to invite two of our investigators to be baptized this week, which was awesome! One of our investigators, M___A____, was recently married to a woman in the ward who is less active... But she is hopefully planning to come back to church, especially after Mike was willing to take the discussions with us. He was accepting to our baptism invitation and will decide on a date sometime in the near future. Our other investigator, M__A__ B____, who we found trying to contact a member of our ward who moved out, was open to what we had to say. We scheduled an appointment to meet with her last Saturday and we shared the Restoration lesson. It was so powerful and the spirit was so strong during the lesson. Elder Villar was awesome too and felt prompted to invite her to be baptized. Although she politely declined because she is very Catholic, she was still interested on learning more and plans to attend church with us in a couple weeks on mothers day:)

It really is awesome to train a new missionary and to see the progress of how they adapt to a life of 24/7 missionary work. It was just how it was with Elder Richardson and I when I first started. Yes there are some up and downs and a lot of the times it is not easy, but we have a great relationship. Elder Villar is awesome, one of my many good friends on the mission for sure!

Yesterday we also had our Regional Broadcast from Salt Lake City. Elder Anderson and Hales spoke from the General Authority to everyone here in the Eastern States. It was also announced during the Broadcast that Elder Holland would be speaking to all the Spanish here in Boston area. He plans to come here May 31st! It will be interesting and exciting to know what he has to say. I'm sure we will be getting permission to attend since his grandson, who is also our AP right now, is also one of the Spanish missionaries serving in Boston.

Thanks for all the letters and info on whats been happening! 

 
Dad- I got your letter, thank you. And that is awesome about Pat's Run! We should do that next year for sure. And whenever you want to take the trip out here to Boston, just let me know a date. I can probably start talking to some people and let them know:)

Karen- Thanks for the pics. That's great that Hayden is finally leaving for the mission. And wow he looks different too! Hope all is well with the other friends in the ward. Glad to know that you, grandpa, grandma and Jazzy had a great time in NOLA this past weekend! I'm sure it was a blast. FYI I'll let you know a time next week about skyping. 

Jazz- Let me know how life's goin for you. Love ya!

Gracias por todo. Se que nuestro grupo va a tener exito. Poco a poco con esto. Siguen adelante, les quiero mucho!

  

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong

 

 

March 16th

Family,

It's that time of year! March Madness is underway and the weather is certainly getting better, even here in New England.

This week was another great week as far as the work was concerned. Elder Terry and I were able to extend another baptism date for an investigator whose name is J____. We were able to set a date with him for the end of May. So as of right now, we have a total of 5 baptism dates for our investigators, 1 for the end of this month, 2 for April and 2 for the month of May. M___ A____, S___ D____, J___ C____, V___ V____ and J___ G___ are the people who have baptism dates. We are also working with other investigators who are continuing to progress. The members are also very helpful. So the work that we have in our area right now is on fire! 

This past Thursday, we also had the Assistants come to our area to do exchanges with us, so I was able to spend the day with my good friend Elder Stones (him and I came out together in the MTC and now he is one of our assistants to the president). We spent the entire day on Thursday just catching up with one another about our missions. He is also another missionary from AZ and we will plan to end our missions together at the end of June.

Speaking of the end of June, I'll plan to respond to the email Karen sent out about the options that she gave me with regards to travel plans as well as schooling. 

That is awesome that Navy got her call to serve in the Philippines! She will leave the same time I left. Also that Holden was able to come home this past Wednesday. He's already dating lol, good for him. 

I also received letters from Jazz and Dad. Thank you for those! 

It sounds like everyone is doing great and that they are happy. I am also doing great and extremely blessed for the successes which I've seen and for the joys which I've seen from the success of others as well. Alma 29:13-16.  

Keep working hard this week. Les Quiero Mucho!

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 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

February 23rd

Family,

This week has been another solid week in terms of extending Baptismal Dates for our investigators! The weather here blows but the work is progressing. Elder Terry and I were able to extend 3 more baptism dates, one for V__ V____ for May 2nd and two for our new investigators R__ D____ and N____ R____ for the end of March. R____ and N____ were actually found while we were tracking the streets at 8:30 at night when it was only 10 degrees outside. It was definitely a tender mercy for us since we were able to leave a blessing on their home that night and then later they committed to attend church a couple days after. It was awesome! So right now we have planned 6 baptisms, most of them lined up to occur at least every weekend in March. It sure is a blessing to have the success that we've been having. The key to all of this is the blessings that comes through obedience, diligence to rely upon the Lord, and by working with the members:) 

Thank you for your emails. ,,,,,,,,,,and yes, I'm stoked to play the courses:) Can't wait!

As for now, I will keep doing the Lord's will during this time in his service. I'm blessed for the miracles that I've seen and the spiritual progression I'm able to witness in the lives of others and for myself as well. I know that Heavenly Father has his purposes, even during times of difficulty. This is just his way of preparing us to become his choice sons and daughters that he knows we are.

Thanks again for all that you do. Keep up the good work. Les Quiero Mucho! 

​

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

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

January 26th

Family,

Not too much has been happening lately, except the fact that all of New England has been preparing for one of the worst snow storms in history. Or as they claim... they're saying about 30 in! Blizzard conditions will last later today till mid-Wednesday.  So today will be a day of literal preparation as far as getting things ready for the blizzard Juno. I hope you enjoyed your Cruise!!!

I am doing well though, I have no complaints:) We have been able to pick up a couple new investigators over this past week, which has been keeping us very busy everyday. I have not been this busy in the work for while now, so I sure do love it! Its nice to always be kept busy and to remain consistently focused on the Lord and His work.  

Thanks for sending me the application forms for the schools I have interests in. ...............But for now my future plans on all that are still wide-open, so I will just leave it at that. I just completed all my other applications for all the other schools so I am all set.

Glad you guys are enjoying your cruise right now lol. I will probably be inside most of this week or once this Blizzard is done... what can you do though. Only the Lord knows and apparently has a purpose for it. But all I know is that it is not going to stop us from hastening His work!

I will try to remember to send pics next time. Keep up the good work. Tell the grandparents I love them too.

Les Quiero Mucho!

January 12th

Family,

This will be my final time serving here in Nashua, NH... As of Saturday night, I received the news where I will be most likely serve the remaining months of my mission. The Lord has called me to serve in Ludlow, MA (Eng speaking), which is in the suburbs of Springfield! I will also continue to serve as a Zone Leader in that area. My geographic region covers all of Western Mass. with a little area of New York, so we'll see if I can make it out there (been to almost all states on my mission lol). This place reminds me a lot of the final episode in Seinfeld, where their plane crashes in a random remote area of Mass. Yep, that's where I will be haha. Its super random but I'm excited nonetheless! 

There's also a ton of work that is happening over there as well! I already know who my new companion is going to be. His name is Elder Terry. I was able to serve around him before so I know we will work well with one another. I also know a lot of the other missionaries in this new zone so it will be an absolute blast to work with them! 

Surprisingly, I was not worried at all about being transferred so fast, especially during a time where the work here in Nashua started to progress much faster since the time I came in. This week was definitely the way to end off my time serving in the Nashua area though. We ended up extending a baptismal date for our new investigator, E___ S_____. He is from Puerto Rico and is a really good friend from a less-active we were able to get in contact with. I was able to extend a date for him for next month forFebruary 8! He is so ready to be baptized, I was blessed to have been able to contact him and to have also extended that baptismal invitation for him. Although I was only able to work with him for a week, I'm excited to know that Elder Smith and his new companion will even have more success working with Eitel along with working in this area. (This is one of the most difficult areas in the mission). It was great to serve here for both times that I had. There are definitely great families that I was able to re-establish contact with and will continue to do so later on:) 

Although I never made it out to Boston to serve as a missionary, its amazing to know that its all about the people. Hence, the Lord calls all missionaries to labor in certain areas for a reason.  I know that the Lord has more plans waiting for me for my final chapter of my mission. I can't believe the time has already come to this where I already know my final area of where I will be serving. This is my "final push," giving it everything I got for these last 4 months. Cont. #BostonStrong!

Be safe on your travels. Pat, glad to know that my dad has plans to visit you guys and that you will be able to see my sister as well:) Not too long until I will have the opportunity to come out to visit too.

Les Quiero mucho!  

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

Jauary 5th

Family,

JAZZY IS BACK!!!!!!!

I'm sure you guys had a blast being together again! Thanks for the pics and everything. And yep, she definitely looks the same lol. I'm so happy for all of you guys:)

......

I had a good New Years. 2015 woooo! I am blessed to set new goals for myself and continue to improve. As far as the work goes, we are working hard to visit as many part member families and less actives in our ward as we can, to find people to teach. We have seen small successes with finding a couple potential investigators by doing this. Hopefully we can continue to see the successes though. 

It also sounded like you guys had a great New Years as well! Again, I'm glad that Jazz is doing good and is back at home! I can't wait to hear some of the stories from her as well. 

Keep working hard doing what you do.

Les Quiero Mucho!!    

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong