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

 

 

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

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

Family,

This week has been a good week for both Johnston and I! To tell you a little bit about what we did for our 4th of July weekend, we were able to get permission from our AP's to drive down to Boston to stay and watch the fireworks. The weird thing was was that the 4th of July was actually celebrated on the 3rd this year, due to Hurricane Arthur that hit the East Coast pretty hard during the actual day of the 4th... But we were still able to celebrate it that evening with a member who also lives down in Boston. It was so cool to see how many people were along the Charles River during that time!  We were able to find a good spot along the River to watch the fireworks, while also being able to hear the Boston Pops being played in the background. Immediately after the fireworks though, the storm (Hurricane Arthur) came in and it started to downpour like crazy! It was pretty much all of Boston in one area trying to run for the train station over by Park St. Man we were drenched! Just like it was in Philly- Great memories Dad haha. But it was such a cool experience to be able to go to Boston to celebrate Independence Day! You guys can probably guess the plans that I might have next year during that time:) 

As far as the work is going, we are continuing to find small successes here and there. For example, yesterday, one of our less-actives members came to the pulpit and bore her testimony for the first time in a long time. We also had 31 total people attend our Group, so our numbers as far as attendance is slowly starting to increase as well. Other than that, we have been working a lot with our Bishop to finalize our ward list for the Lowell Ward to determine if these people still live in the area. This has basically been our assignment ever since we've gotten here and now we are almost completed with it. Our next steps are to continue to work with the less-actives that are here in the area along with continuing to invite. That's what we do.

Johnston and I were able to pick up 2 more investigators while tracking the streets- Jose and Segundo from Ecuador. We were able to teach them a solid lesson of the Restoration and the Intro to the Book of Mormon the other day. Jose seemed to have a lot of interest as we were teaching and wanted to continue to learn more. We ended up inviting both of them to church this past Sunday but they didn't attend... We hope that we can still be able to work with them, along with a couple others that we have met either by street contact or door to door knocking. I am learning how difficult it is to find investigators in this way and also understanding how non-effective it is, compared with working through the members. That is why starting a Group is also difficult, we don't have too many members and the members that attend don't know too many of the Hispanics that live in this area. We are continuing to chip away and have faith nonetheless.

One of the things that I've enjoyed learning about was actually a talk that was given in this month's issue of the Ensign- "Becoming Perfect in Christ." This talk actually helped strengthened my testimony by reminding me of the importance of understanding that perfection doesn't happen immediately. Sometimes I want so bad to know the right answers right away, to understand a new language, to strive to have perfection- for me, that is typically how my mind works, to have that desire to immediately know right away. As I've mentioned before, this talk was a great reminder for me to realize the importance of building faith to rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ during difficulty and to have patience during those times. These are concepts that you can never really learn enough of. I am always willing to learn more about the Atonement of Christ- Something that is personal and different for each individual person but centered around the same person, through and only through Jesus Christ.

I know that He lives and loves us. 

I'm blessed to know that you all are doing well, along with our friends and family like Devin Hampton and Lauren Dodd- They sound like they are doing well on their missions!

I'm looking forward to the letter Dad, thank you for that. Keep up the hard work everyday!  Les quiero mucho!   

(I love them very much!)

              

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

March 26th

Family,

I absolutely hate cold weather, it's only 20 degrees right now... and its almost April. I hope it's nice and hot where back in Phoenix. Other than the cruddy weather and the chance of snow for today I'm doing pretty good. One of the blessings of serving state-side is that I get up-to-date scores on the tourney, which also meant finding out what happened to Duke... What did happen to Duke?! Jabari Parker should've just decided to serve a full time mission... Oh well, picking Duke a few years ago was definitely worth it! Maybe next year haha.

This week was good as far as the work is concerned. Not too much happened with our progressing investigators Oscar and Blanca this week, but we did have success with one of our other investigators, J___ M____. He is an 11 year old kid whose mom is a less active. We even have a baptismal date set for him for the 27th of April! One of the biggest problems of why his mom is less active is that J___'s brother, E___, has an extremely severe case of Autism. (The picture is of me cutting E___'s hair, he can't sit still so his mom had to basically hold him down in a chair the entire time- she was very grateful for us doing that service for her boys because they aren't able to go to a barbershop since his autism is so severe). Only J____ was able to come to church this week, although he didn't understand anything that was said in Spanish, I think he still enjoyed it. 

 

This past Sunday as well, I also had the opportunity to give a talk  in our sacrament meeting. I spoke on how we can strengthen one other as family members. It was pretty cool since this was pretty much my first time on the mission giving a talk in an organized sacrament meeting all in Spanish.

Some other interesting things that happened just yesterday was that we were able to meet with one of our less actives, Hermano C_____, from Ecuador. He has been less active for about 5 years now and has been attending the Catholic church. (He actually came back to church 2 weeks ago for the first time since, but doesn't want to go back). .......But we promised him that he would be welcomed back into the church, and by that, will not feel embarrassed whatsoever. He promised he would attend if we went to a session of his Catholic mass before our church will start this Sunday. So this Sunday, we're planning to take up that challenge. It should be pretty interesting, I've never attended a Catholic mass before lol.

 

One last thing that happened yesterday was that Elder Johnston and I were able to drop by one of our other investigators, M____, and the only thing we had planned was to see how she was doing and to get to know her a little bit more. But when we arrived, we found out that her whole family as at her house all at the same time. So we decided to watch the restoration video and bear testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith to everyone that was at the house.  There was a total of 11 people at the house. That was the most I've been able to teach at once, it was pretty cool to share my testimony to all those people all at one time. That also could possibly mean a good amount of those people in that family might one day become actual investigators in the future, we'll have to see though.

Not too much has been happening besides that, Elder Johnston and I have been working hard and doing our best. I'm blessed to know everyone is doing well back home. I know that our families can be strengthened in so many ways through serving one another.

I love you guys so much! You are in my prayers.  

Elder Johnston and the Hermanas)

            

Elder BerthelsonBostonStrong