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 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

August 18th

Family,

I am doing well. Yesterday we had our baptism for L____ B____! My comp was able to perform the ordinance for her. We were all super thrilled and I think her mom has also taken some interest into learning more about the Gospel as well. Her family is originally Catholic, but after all that happened yesterday with the baptism, I believe it may have just sparked a little bit more of interest for L____'s family to want to learn more. We'll just have to find out. Nonetheless, it was a great day overall! 

Other than that, not too many things have happened over this past week... Kind of like you guys, it has just been one of those weeks. Except for Jazzy, wow! Even though it might have been from the previous week, that is really exciting to hear about N______ and also the conversation you were able to have with one of your members who didn't have a testimony of the BOM. But through inspired questions, you were able to reach out to his needs, which I'm assuming was exactly what he needed at that point. I'm sure you guys were able to be a huge blessing for him. Way to stick it to the members J! jaja:)

One of my favorite things about being in the position that I'm in now is that we have the opportunity to go on exchanges once a week. I am able to relate well to a lot of the missionaries, some whom I wouldn't think I'd have anything in common with them. I'm able to not only see their view point as a missionary, but I'm blessed to be able to work with these missionaries on a more personal/spiritual level. This is absolutely one of my favorite things to do as a missionary, to help other missionaries find ways to grow and become successful. 

Thanks again for your letters! 
K- Thanks for the addition to my checking account. Just to let you know though, I had to get a brand new suit tailored. So right now my balance is low again... if you could just add an additional 20 I'd appreciate it. 
Dad- I think I remember you telling me about a month ago or so that you were planning to go to a couple of A's games in Oakland for your B-Day. If that's so, I hope you enjoy the time out there, great memories for sure!! Happy Birthday Dad:)

Hope all is well this week.

Les Quiero mucho!! 

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong