June 2nd

Family,

These past couple days have been incredible! On Sunday, we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Holland at the Latino Conference held in Weston, MA. Almost all the people, whom I love very much, from all the Spanish areas that I've served in on my mission attended the conference. Everyone that I've basically worked  with was in the congregation that night to hear from an apostle of the Lord. It was the family reunion of my mission! It was very sentimental to see all these people again, one of which included Abuelita Argueta. I had not seen her for more than a year and a half, so it was amazing to be able to see her again:)

I'm attaching a photo of Elder Jeffery R. Holland. What an honor it is to be able to look this man in the eyes and to shake his hand. I know that he, as well as the other remaining General Authority, are called of God to lead and guide this church. I do know that this church is true and what a blessing it is to serve at this time. 

Thank you for all your love and support. I'm still running towards the blast! 

Love you all. 

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

 

 

April 13th

Family,

Wow! Yo realice que mi espanol no esta bien, por nada... jaja. Por los menos mi nuevo companero me ha ayudado muchismo con el idioma. Por que el es de Chile, el habla muy rapido y es muy dificil para entenderle, pero todavia estoy bendicido a tener un companero que esta dispuesto a ayudarme con esto. Ahora yo se lo que Jazzy hablaba cuando ella nos decia como dificil a entender los Chileanos por la primera parte de su mision.   

 

(I realize that my Spanish is not good for anything ... haha. At least my new companion has helped me a ton with the language. For that is Chile , speaking very fast and is very difficult to understand , but I'm still be blessing to have a partner who is willing to help me with this . Now I know what she was saying Jazzy when we spoke as difficult to understand Chileanos by the first part of his mission .)

The phrase "running towards the blasts" is certainly taking effect for me at this point on the mission... I have so much to do in so little time, its crazy. We are in charge of the Franklin 1 English Ward and the Spanish Group that was formed about a year ago. The Group is barely staying afloat with only 6-8 active members that actively attend weekly. The goal is to increase the attendance with active priesthood holders and families attending and to work with the members of the English Ward to get them involved in missionary work. We already have a ton of work to do with both. So we are pretty much working back and forth in two separate fields of the work. I definitely have experience in both English and Spanish wards, but the real challenge is finally here... I feel like everything I've worked towards and learned is being put to the test all at once for the last couple months of the mission.

My new companion is awesome! His name is Elder Villar del estado Vitacura en Santiago, Chile este! (the same mission as Jazzy). Jazz did you know anyone with the last name Villar-Barrios??? Anyways he is way cool. Of course he is a soccer player and he came right from high school to come out here to serve a mission. He is super nice and humble too. He also lived in Provo for a few years so he is pretty much fluent in English as well, but is still helping me with my Spanish.

Elder Villar found out a few days before coming out to the field that his dad was called as an area 70 of Chile during this past General Conference. I thought that was pretty amazing that he was able to find that out. Jazzy, you gotta let me know if you know him at all. Sounds like my companion would've lived in the same area of Santiago that you served in! 

I will definitely send some pictures soon. We are going to play soccer or something for our p-day, its his first one so we'll have a good time of course:)

......

 

Keep up the good work! Les quiero mucho!   

     

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

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 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.    

May 19th

Thank you for all your letters. So like I've said, right now I am in Lowell, Mass. The Spanish Group in this area was just announced yesterday so everything is a go! The differences between this one and the Group that we started in Nashua is that we are working completely from scratch... and I mean completely. We do have two investigators right now though, but our primary focus is reactivation and inviting ALL to come unto Christ. With that being said, there are a total of 58 people in the ward who speak Spanish but are no where to be found in the area. That is where we come in, to find and invite. And there are also 27 people who are Brazileros in the ward... This means that our other assignment is to reach out to all the Portugese speaking members in the area as well and to also invite them to the Spanish Group, where they can understand the majority of what is being said. 

 

Lowell is filled with a ton of Brazilians and Cambodians, its pretty crazy! When we spoke with our Bishop yesterday, he discussed some of the issues that this ward has and one of the biggest problems was the amount of less-actives that don't speak English; hence one of the reasons we are starting this group. So yeah, he has also asked us to reach out to all people, no matter their race or language they speak. Elder Johnston and I are now learning Portugese and a little Cambodian... its pretty wild! Portugese is basically a totally different language! I'm excited to be learning different languages and cultures. I never thought I'd ever have to speak those languages. The Lord is definitely making my mission pretty interesting for sure!

 

One of the things I am grateful for is the great relationships I am making with some of the members here in the Lowell Ward. There is this family (the G_____ family) who are our only Spanish active members and are doing all that they can to help us in the work. They are super nice and want to do everything to help. This family consists of an older couple and a son who is our Group Leader (R__ G___). This guy is awesome! He hooked Elder Johnston and I up at a really nice gym for a 30 free pass and is just all around way cool. I'm excited to be working with him to say the least!  

 

Dad and K- That is awesome you were able to make it to the Grand Canyon! I can't wait to hike it when I get back. That is definitely one of the first things I want to do is to hike the whole rim, North and South. I'm sure that grandpa and grandma had just as great of a time as well! That's fun that the Rackham's were able to come to AZ for a visit too. It sounds like everything is going well back home, keep it up!

 

Jazz- Como vai? Eu nao falar muieto portugese mas eu estou tretando aprender.... jaja. Lo que dije es que estoy tratando aprender portugese pero es tan dificil. Basicamente un otro idioma por los menos. Te images tratando hablar en espanol mientras te pillas tu nariz, es lo que como sona el portugese jaja. De todos modos, sigues trabajando. Te quiero mucho hermana!

 

I recieved a package today, which I will open up later this afternoon. Thank you guys for that.

 

I know that this work is tough. I never felt like I have had to work harder in my life... Football is hard but it doesn't even compare as far as the amount of mental and spiritual exhaustion I feel everyday. I just know that the Lord expects a lot out of me and He knows that I can rise up to these types of challenges. Like I said, I am basically starting from nothing; with the people I'm working with, the language, the area... everything. But I'm blessed to know that I can always fall back on my Savior and trust in Him for everything as well.  love you guys. I pray for you often.

 

 

 

       

May 5th, Cinco de Mayo

amila,

Feliz cinco de mayo! Gracias por sus correos. Voy a escribir todo en espanol para celebrar este dia famoso! (cual no tiene mucha significa aqui en Los Estados para nada... jaja!) (disculpe K). Se recuerden lo que paso el ultimo ano durante este tiempo?? En realidad estuvimos en San Diego solo caminando alredador el parque en Old Town. (Despues asistiendo el templo por aya). Me extrano Old Town, SD. Pues, la proxima vez en que podamos visitar eso lugar, podemos hablar todo en espanol para toda la gente aya. Estoy emocionando a visitar San Diego otra vez y usar mi espanol. Eso seria muy chido! jaja. 

(eliz May 5th! Thank you for your post. I will write everything in Spanish to celebrate this famous day! (which does not have much meaning here in The States at all ... haha!) (sorry K). They remember what happened the last year during this time? Actually we were in San Diego just walking alredador park in Old Town. (After attending the temple aya). I extrano Old Town, SD. Well, the next time that we visit this place, we can talk all in Spanish for all people aya. I am excited to visit San Diego again and use my Spanish. That would be really cool! haha.)

 

 

Muchas buenas cosas pasaron durante esta semana! Entonces yo recibi las noticias sobre las transferencias y voy a quedarme aqui en Nashua. Todavia Elder Johnston esta mi companero. Estoy emocionado para quedarme aqui y continuar a trabajar con la gente en NH. Oh tambien, yo recibi buenas noticias ayer! Pues, hay va a ser una serperacion en el barrio de Providence, RI! Esta fantastico! Yo escuche las noticias ayer de mi otro companero, Elder Gonzalez, y el me dijo que el barrio crecio tanto que ellos necesitaban dividir el barrio... Entonces ahora, ellos tienen dos barrios, uno en Providence y el otro en Central Falls, mi primera area en la mision! Yo nunca pensaba en este pasando, por los menos mientras yo estaria aqui en la mision. Pues, hay muchos milagros que estan pasando, especialmente en las areas anteriores en que yo servi. Es una bendicion, que yo tenia la oportunidad a servir alli y ayudar esta maravillosa cosa pasa.      

 

(Many good things happened this week! Then I received the news about transfers and I will stay here in Nashua. We do this my companion Elder Johnston. I'm excited to stay here and continue to work with people in NH. Oh well, I received good news yesterday! Well, there will be a serperacion in the neighborhood of Providence, RI! This fantastic! I heard the news yesterday from my other companion, Elder Gonzalez, and told me that the district grew so much that they needed to divide the neighborhood ... So now they have two districts, one in Providence and one in Central Falls, my first area in the mission! I never thought about this happening, at least while I'd be here in the mission. Well, there are many miracles that are happening, especially in the above areas that I service. It is a blessing, that I had the opportunity to serve there and help this wonderful thing happens.)

 

 

La proxima semana, Elder Johnston y yo tuvimos la oportunidad a extender una fecha bautismal para un chico, se llama I___ R______! El tiene 17 anos y creo que el este listo para bautismo. Nos sentimos inspirados a extender una fecha para el primero domingo en junio (1 de Junio). Y tambien, esta semana, tuvimos 47 personas que se asistieron la Iglesia para la reunion sacramental ayer. Esta tiene significa que los numeros por el grupo espanol en Nashua esta creciendo y estamos tener mucho exito! Nuestras oraciones estan siendo contestadas! Por poner la fe y la confianza en Dios, podemos recibir muchas bendiciones en nuestras vidas. Yo tengo un testimonio en eso. 

 

(Next week, Elder Johnston and I had the opportunity to extend a baptismal date for a boy, I___ R____ called! He has 17 years and I think you are ready for baptism. We are inspired to extend the date for the first Sunday in June (June 1). And also, this week, we had 47 people who attended the church for sacrament meeting yesterday. This has meant that the numbers for the Spanish group in Nashua is growing and we have great success! Our prayers are being answered! By putting faith and trust in God, we can receive many blessings in our lives. I have a testimony of that.)

Papi- gracias por la proteina:)  Sigue trabajando duro con el trabajo y en el gimnasio!

Jazzy y papi, disculpen por la mala punctuacion que yo use por esta carta. No puedo poner los accentos y todo de esos... Y karen, voy a escribir un otro correo para ti.

Gracias a ustedes por sus ejemplos para mi. Yo se que este evangelio me trae gran felicidad y que me puedo expresar esa para todas las personas con que estoy trabajando. Disfruten su dia! Voy a comer muchos tacos y tener una fiesta hoy! jaja.

 

(Papi-thanks for protein :) Keep working hard with work and the gym!
Jazzy and dad, sorry for the bad punctuation that I use for this card. I can not put the accents and all of those ... And Karen, I'll write another post for you.
Thank you for your examples to me. I know that this gospel brings me great happiness and I can say that for everyone I'm working with. Enjoy your day! I will eat many tacos and have a party today! haha.)

Les quiero mucho!        

I love them very much!

Nashua, NH - 2.19.14

Family,

In the last email that I wrote last week, I told everyone that we had a Spanish branch in the Nashua area... its actually not the case. We are basically starting what is called a "group," which means we are splitting ourselves from the two English wards in the area. This Spanish group is eventually going to start up beginning on the first Sunday in March. Although the group is made up of pretty much one family (la familia lopez, which consists of 20 active members) and 15 others, everybody is way excited for what is about to take place as far as the Spanish is concerned in Nashua! We are working hard and doing everything we can to get this group started, but the ultimate goal will eventually be to see this group turn into a legit branch/ward someday.

My new companion is pretty cool, his name is Elder Johnston. He is from Pocatello, ID and he is also a sports-guy and enjoys working out just like me. He just got done serving in the Cambridge/Boston, MA part of the mission and he's been there just about as long as I've been in Providence, so we share a lot of stories back and forth about what we've experienced with our different areas. He is a few months older than I am in the mission but only one day younger as far as age goes. We're going to work well with one another:) 

I was not able to write on my P-Day because we had the opportunity to down to Boston to do a temple session. I'm very blessed for the opportunities I have to go to the temple as much as I have on my mission.

As of right now we are pretty much in a middle of a snowstorm... so recently we have had to do more shoveling than teaching. Over the past couple days during this week though, we had to remain inside in our apartments due to the blizzards that is happening in New England. I am tired of the cold. Just remember how blessed we are to live in a place where you don't have to worry about the cold and you can just enjoy the warm weather, because I sure do miss it. I guess I only have to wait it out for a few more weeks though, then maybe we'll get to see the sun if we're lucky.

Glad to know everyone is doing great! That is so cool how Devin Hampton got his call to Salta, Argentina! I was guessing somewhere either in Mexico or Europe... I am really excited for him!

     

Keep working hard. I know that the Lord has something in store for all of us, its certain. Press forward with faith and good things will happen.

I love you guys.

Elder Berthelson

BostonStrong

From Elder Berthelson's new companion:
My new comp is from Phoenix Arizona, and is one day older than me! He is fairly new in the mission, and his Spanish still lacks a bit, so I get to do basically all the talking in Spanish! Which is gonna be great, and my Spanish will hopefully keep growing! Elder Berthelson also played a year of college football before the mission at Southern Virginia, loves to golf, and enjoys working out in the morning! It will be great! We got a sick gym in the apt complex, with treadmills and weights, so we have been going hard in the morning!

December 2nd

Family,

I am doing really well.  We have been constantly working and progressing day in and day out. My Thanksgiving was also pretty good, I was able to have dinner with a member family of our ward, la familia H____. It was a traditional american-style turkey Thanksgiving like normal, but I was able to say all the things I was grateful for around the dinner table in spanish. It was different, but I liked it.

I also had the incredible opportunity to ordain A____ with the Aaronic priesthood last Tuesday and so he was able to bless the sacrament yesterday for the first time in sacrament meeting. Not only was he able to do that, but he was able to say it in spanish! It was such a cool experience for him. We also have a temple trip coming up in another 2 weeks or so (around Christmas), so I will also have the opportunity to go with him to do baptisms! It's just incredible to see his spiritual progression and for me to be the one to witness all of it.  

Another great experience I had, yesterday my companion, Elder Gonzalez, was able to baptize F____ H____. The spirit was so strong as F____later bore his testimony in front of everyone after the baptismal ordanance. It was great to be a part of the baptism and to be able to work with F_____, who already has such a strong testimony. 

I'm very blessed to have had the experiences that I've had this past week. I am also blessed to say that my spanish is actually improving a lot more than it has been before. I really struggled for the longest time with the language, but I figured I would try President Hinkley's promise, which was to read the entire Book of Mormon out loud in a different language (spanish- for me). I only started this a couple weeks ago and made it a goal to finish the BoM by the end of the year. I have complete faith in this promise. I know I can do it:)

President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: “Those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. …

“… Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts … the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God” (“The Power of the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, June 1988, 6; see also “The Book of Mormon,” Tambuli, Oct. 1988, 7).

Thank you guys for all of your messages! I'll continue to pray for those certain individuals in my personal prayers. I'm blessed to hear all is going well. Keep it up. Love you guys.