Happy 4th

Hey Mom! I got the package! Thank you so much! I love all the little dinners and things mixed up inside of there. You have no idea how flavorful those potatoes where to me. I have never tasted anything so good in my life, I swear. Those little 'Idaho Potatoes' were the best. If you are continually wondering about whether you should send me a birthday package, well then the answer is yes. If you insist. I won't refuse. Really though, thank you also for all the little articles about Cody Towse that you sent me too. I had one night before bed this past week that I just read all those and thought about him. It was sad, but it was good too just to have a little time to mourn. Mourning is not really all bad. And yes, all of the transfers went well and we got all of the new elders to their new areas. Here's a little bit of news, we are now working with Sisters in our ward! Our ward, Betongolo, received two sisters as well to help the work progress. Our area was split in half, and now we don't have to worry about the area struggling due to the fact that we are always working here in the office! Nice! Sister Patterson, one of the sisters, is the first white American sister that has worked here in Madagascar (on the actual Madagascar island, not in Reunion or Mauritius) in years. I don't know how many, but at least a good handful. It's a pretty momentous occasion if I do say so myself. Well sorry, but we went to the croc farm again today and I have no time at all to write anything. I'll send you a suuuper good email next week, I promise. With pictures even. Just remind me. Life is good. A pink bedroom will be good. Good. I love you. Elder Bergera

Hey Mom!

Yeah, haha, I thought you might like that news. It's pretty close huh? I know I still have a lot of work to do here though, and I am glad for it. We are having a busy schedule this week already actually, haha. We will be doing a lot of driving back and forth, taking missionaries to bus stations that will take them to their new areas. Driving stick shift has gotten loads easier for me, though it still has its annoying times here and there. I honestly don't see the 'fun' in driving stick, but I haven't driven automatic in a long while, so maybe I am having a lot of fun anyway and I just don't realize it! Wooo!

As for what I will need in my room... well a closet and a mattress sounds pretty good to me. that's all i really would 'require.' You can leave the computer there too, along with the desk. That's all I can think of now. I will tell you more later about my actual 'plans,' but for now I honestly don't have much time.

Right now we are about to go and make brownies to bring to an investigators house for Family Home Evening. They call brownies here 'mofo kadradraka' meaning 'cockroach bread' haha steming from an old missionary joke that we make the brownies using crush up cockroaches, haha.

I haven't received the package yet, but they are going tomorrow to pick up packages, so let's cross our fingers!

Okay, sorry that this letter is super short. I anticipated having a lot more time than i actually do now, but it's okay because you are still smiling from ear to ear because of the good news right? Right!

Okay, I love you! Thank you for all you do!

Elder Bergera

Dear Sister Bergera,

This letter is to inform you that your son Elder Austin J. Bergera will be leaving from his mission in the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission on 18 September 2013. You should receive an email with his travel itinerary soon from Church travel. We have appreciated your sons dedicated service to the Lord here in Madagascar.

Now go buy our Disneyland tickets!

Sincerely yours,

Elder Bergera

The Fresh Prince of Madagascar

Madagascar Mission Office

Reny ô!

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for that package. I am in the office all the time now days anyway, so that should honestly be pretty easy, haha.

Speaking of that, the work in the office is going pretty well actually. There sure are a lot of things to remember but we still have two more weeks until the current office couple leaves so I am not too worried about anything. I wil just have to take some really nice notes before they leave. I am in charge of make sure the mission presidents flights to all the different areas get taken care of, so I better not mess up, haha. Don't worry, I will learn my duties thoroughly. I think one of the best things about being here in the office is just getting to know the whole mission well. Not that we get to talk to ALL of the missionaries all the time or anything, but you always need to have a good knowledge of everything going on in the mission. I've always liked knowing who is where and who the new missionaries coming in are, and this is the perfect setting for that. I would say that's the best part actually, just being aware. You asked about the worst part too, and I would honestly say that it is just that we don't have a whole lot of time to work. I mean to go out and to teach. Going out and teaching cool Malagasy families is by far my favorite part of being here. People are so grateful for coming and teaching you, and they thank you for the big 'sacrifice' we make. I don't really see it so much as a sacrifice as much as a privilege, haha. I mean, not all the lessons all the time are awesome. There are plenty of awkward lessons. On top of all those awkward lessons though, there are many people wanting and praying for you to visit, and when you do, it's awesome. The hospitality of the people here what makes the work here so fun. Here in the office though, we don't get a whole lot of time to go out and work. We still have about three hours every night, but those hours go by in an instant. We are still getting work done though, and I am super glad to be able to be here in the office and serve in this way. It's a whole new ballgame.

We actually had a baptism this past Saturday with a girl named Sariaka. I am pretty sure I have mentioned her before, and she finally got baptized this past week. She's only nine (turning ten on the 26th), but she really is super smart. We used the church's baptism font to hold it, and I am still getting over the fact that we actually have a font here. I've never had one in any other area. The water was a bit green though... I'm not sure what that was about. And oh boy was it cold! I haven't mentioned too much about this yet, but winter is coming back. I haven't NOT worked with a sweater on in weeks. There have been plenty of hot afternoons, but once that sun goes down it gets cold again. You could tell the water in the baptism font had been sitting under the COLD ground, but Sariaka didn't complain about it at all, so I figured I wouldn't, haha. I wasn't the one getting dunked, haha. Her dad even came to the baptism, whom I had never seen before. All in all it was a very nice day.

My toenail is in very good shape by the way. Absolutely no problems anymore. You can even see a little tiny stub of toenail growing back in, and it's looking good! There is still a bit of scab tissue over a good part of the nail, but it doesn't hurt or anything anymore. Nothing bad happened when I submerged it underwater for the baptism, so hey, I can't complain.

Yeah though, you probably won't need to worry to much about sending me a package after my birthday, haha. I think I'll make it.

Everything is going well though. 

The streets are getting rowdy with laser pointers and fire crackers as the Malagasy Indepedance Day draws near on the 26th of this month. That's a pretty big day for us too. We have a couple and 10 missionaries leaving (one being my trainer Elder Watts, and another being my two week companion Elder Lambson) and another 15 coming in that day. It'll be a nice day, haha.

Well, I think that's about all I have in me for the week.

Enjoy!

Look on the bright side!

Elder Bergera

Mom,

Thank you for that great last letter! Just reading your description of how Cody's farewell all went made me feel like I was really there. I guess that's why your a writer! Thank you so much though, really. It's like you said, "I was there to represent you, so I hope you feel the love I have for you in doing that, and like you were a part of things." I thank you so much Mom for being there for me! I really do feel like I was there now, and there is nothing else I could ask for. I am really glad the funeral was able to go well and that they were able to get his body there and the funeral was able to be held in such a respectful manner. I appreciate you taking the time to do all that for me. When me and the other dudesters get back, we'll have to go and visit him and pay our respects our own way. 

I am really excited for that package to come and to get all those things you talked about. One more thing I was thinking about that would be nice to get in package is maybe some stickers I could give to kids. You have indeed been doing well to supply me with stickers, and maybe just add some more because kids love to get stickers. We've been working well with this one recently activated family lately and every time we go there they ask for a sticker, so I let them all pick one sticker and they put it on their hand. What they do with it after, well, heavens knows. It's been fun though.

With that same family as well we found out that their nine (almost ten) year old daughter hadn't been baptized, so we've also been teaching her with them these last few weeks and helping her prepare for baptism. Her name is Sariaka and she is suuuper cute, haha. It's way crazy too because I am pretty sure I wasn't as smart as she is when I was that young. I'll be baptizing her this Saturday (June 8th). We should have another couple maybe getting baptized a week from then too, but it all depends on the husbands commitment with the word of wisdom. We worked with him a lot throughout the month of May to help him, and we'll see if he can stick to it. I am really excited to see what happens with him. His name is Mo and his wife is Zoeline, so if you wanted to pray for them I won't stop you.

One more "couple" we have been working with (I use the quotation marks because I am not sure if they are for sure 'a thing' or what the deal is, haha) came to church for the first time yesterday. The man is a mid-twenty year old, and the son of a super active recent convert. His parents were baptized May 2012, so I don't know if they necessarily count as 'recent convert status' or what, but that's still pretty recent if you ask me. Anyway, their son who hadn't really shown a whole bunch of interest in the church before has been really showing a lot of interest lately. We have been teaching him with a 'friend who is a girl' for a good couple of weeks now. He always asks super deep questions, but not deep like dumb pointless deep (who created God?), but actually really good, interesting questions. We even taught them on Saturday night and we invited him to church. He straight up told us that he won't be able to come but maybe next time. Lo and behold look who walks into sacrament meeting! Esperan is his name and Tatiana is the girl. They are super cool. He was all smiles once the priesthood quorum got out, and I don't think it was because church got out, haha. 

We are going to be starting our 'office training' tomorrow, which I am actually pretty excited about. I will be in charge of booking flights and things, and so it is likely that I may be ordering my very own flight plans, haha (still no official news as to when that will be though). I did notice an Elder Morley coming from Spanish Fork though, so that's cool. He'll be getting here on September 18th, so I may or may not be here. They also have three french missionaries coming that day. Just so you know, haha. 

My toe is doing great though, so don't worry about me. It's still a little sensitive, and I don't really expect that to go away real soon, but it's not too bad. Pushing the backside of your toe feels all weird when you don't have a toenail. It feels.. unnatural. It's okay though. This is how we grow; through awkward, unnatural situations. My stomach is a-ok now though. Absolutely no problems there. And yes, we had refrigerated the roast over night, but I think we figured the problem might have been we just stuck the slow cooker pot into fridge with the lid on, and maybe that lid kept the heat in and heated the meat just long enough to spoil a bit. Who knows. That's all we could figure out and I'll buy it. 

Everything else is going well though. Just the thing about us taking over the office is the biggest gossip around these parts. I would tell you all my office duties, but hey, that's official hogwarts business. 

I am really excited for the pictures you are sending in the package. I love pictures. This little piece broke on my camera so I haven't been taking a huge amount of pictures lately, but it's all right. 

Jason's mustache is a beautiful stallion.

Thank you for everything.

Elder Bergera 

Okay, there are three:

One is me with a green moth buddy we found.

One is my toenail. Nice!

One is a picture that one kid in our english class found on facebook and printed off. This nearly flattered me but mostly just creeped me out to tell you the truth. The picture really shows off my 'bad-boy' days though.

Hey Mom,

I will give you a quick low down on how this last week has gone for me:

Wednesday: I woke up with my slightly ingrown toenail a bit more swollen and sore. I called the mission nurse. I went with Elder Mitchell, a missionary we live with who has been having the same problems, and we both got our toenails ripped off. I figured that I better just get it all removed incase it grew back.

Thursday: We rested, trying to stay off our toes as much as possible. We cooked a roast in a slow cooker and had an awesome dinner.

Friday: We ate left over roast for lunch. Come dinner time I wasn't feeling too good. 9:00pm I threw up for the first time on my mission.

Saturday: 1:00am I woke up yet again and luckily our room has our own bathroom. I threw up for the second time on my mission. Felt queezy for the remainder of the day.

Sunday: I went to church and wore a shoe for the first time since wednesday. 

Today: I woke up feeling real queezy again, though I have not thrown up yet. My toe feels all right. 

Long story short, we haven't been able to get a whole lot of work done this past week, but hey, I feel like we are back on the rise. 

When we write again next week, I will be on the brim of starting my office training preparing for taking the lead here at the office. Elder Aloi and I both are preparing well and we are looking forward to all of our new duties.

I apologize if this letter is a little short but, hey, there isn't a whole lot to report on this week, haha. 
We office elders only have one computer here in the office to use currently and I was just reminded that my companion hasn't written yet. 

Also, if you ever find anything (pictures, articles, anything) about Cody, well, feel free to send them on over this way. I love to see them.

I love you Mom!

Elder Austin No-Toenail Bergera

Okay okay okay mother, I will write you a good letter.

Or at least I will try.

Well this pentecost holiday/ rememberance is back again. I don't know if you remember last year but I do recall telling you all about it. Here it is again. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone! I feel like I just went to Mahajanga for a while and now this time of the year is back already. The mission just keeps going by so fastly! Wooo! We had a pretty nice day today. We didn't do much, haha, but I think that's what I liked about it. We thankfully didn't get stuck not finding a cyber to email at which problem comes so frequently for us cyber stalkers. I can go to the office for all those needs now days, haha, yeah. Us office elders get all the hookups. 

Just to let all you in on that deal, we have not started training yet to take over the office. The Cornelius' don't leave until June 26th so we have some time before Elder Aloi and I have to worry about taking over the office duties just yet. They are saying our training in that department will start beginning in June. That'll be fine. I'm honestly not too worried about it. It should go all right. A nice casual switch. We are hoping that the next office couple will be coming in in July anyway, so we'll just be a nice bridge for the office knowledge to transfer over well. I always hoped I would be the office missionary type of guy, and it looks like my dreams are finally coming true.

Well I believe I told you about a great baptism we would be having soon, and we were honestly hoping for Lala and Tatiana to be baptized this weekend, but it looks like that that won't quite be happening just yet. We found some problems during the baptism interview, a.k.a. there are still a bit of word of wisdom issues that haven't been completely dealt with yet, but we'll be working really hard with them and I'll let you know how that goes. Lala, the father, was a bit disappointed that they would not be able to get baptized yet. He had been really looking forward to this week to be baptized, but I guess when we are completely ready then we just have to step back and really prepare before we go through these things. Any prayers on their behalf would be greatly appreciated.

I drove a truck this morning. I don't believe I have ever drove a truck before, but today I drove a stick shift truck. I am becoming a man.

I don't know if you would have heard this mom, but I got an email from a friend today who told me that one of my high school friends, Cody Towse, was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan.  He had joined the army a little bit before I left out here on my mission. Do you remember him? He had come over to our house a few times. He was a taller fellow with frizzy black hair. I would've never imagined in high school that he would've joined the military, and I am proud that he was that brave to serve. This news came just as sudden and unexpected as just about anything can. I have never had a friend die before, and I don't like it. I guess the reason I am out here though is to tell people that there truly is a life after death, so I will be reviewing that a lot personally this week. I will be praying for his family this week as well. He passed away truly serving.

Thank you for all you do for me and I will try looking better for what I could tell you all about next week.

Elder Bergera