November 28, 2016

Hello everyone!!!!

This week has been full of fun things that have happened. To start off the week we started with exchanges. I went with a new missionary in my area and it was good. He is still learning the ways of the missionary but he has really learned a lot. That was Elder Perry. He is from Brighton, Utah. It was really fun being with him but like all things the exchange came to an end.

Then we had some member give us some steaks. So we cooked those up on Wednesday. I had a chuck style steak and it was really good. It was a fun night though. 

Christmas is going to be really fun this year. When we are biking around there are a lot of cool christmas light up all ready and its fun to be able to see them all.

We had a really good Thanksgiving. We got a lot of left overs that we have been giving to all of the other missionaries. We had a member that instead of feeding us they spent like $150 on groceries for us. It was way cool of him to do that.

Then I don't know if you heard about the church Christmas push but I am way excited for it. It really helps us remember the true meaning of Christmas. It really helps us to turn out and if you don't know about it I would go to mormon.org and check it out. It is really cool.

Then Elder Duncan went to a baptism on Saturday. So I had to go with like 3 different members until he got back. It was really hard to make three different schedules work, but it all worked out in the end.

Then our investigator named David is going to be getting baptized on December 17 and we are super excited for that. He truly is prepared.

Then I got a Christmas tree from home all set up for a missionary's Christmas. It is a Charlie brown tree for sure.

Love, Elder Berry

November 21, 2016

Hello everyone,

This week has been super full of great miracles. It rained 2 days this week so for the most part it was fun to bike in except when there was so much rain. I went through a puddle and hydroplaned and wrecked. I am alright and my bike is alright too. Only a few scrapes. But it's just a part of being a missionary.

Then we got a new investigator named David. We taught him the restoration and we invited him to be baptized. Instead of saying yes or no, he asked "What do I have to do?". That was a super cool lesson and he is on track to get baptized on December 17. We are going to play in the ward turkey bowl with David to help him get to know the ward better.

 Then another one of our investigators will be getting baptized on January 14. So there are a lot of great things going on in the ward.

Then my companion, Elder Rowland, is right out of the MTC. He has a lot to learn.

Sometimes I just want to take away other people agency so they can be saved.

We will be having dinner at the Mullens for thanksgiving. They always cook super good for so I am looking forward to that.

Hope you all have a great week and don't get hurt plying in the turkey bowl family.

Love, Elder Berry

November 14, 2016

Hello everyone,

This week has really flown by. Since we didn't have a car in the beginning of the week we bike like 50 miles in 2 days. But by Wednesday afternoon we got a car that we could drive around in to make it
possible to get places easier. It is not full car but a convenience car. But it will shorten the 15 mile ride to the top of our area. We are blessed to have a car to make the work more efficient.

Then we had quite a few lessons with an investigator named Linda. She is getting so close to baptism but she just want more time to make sure that this is the true church. It's really cool to see her growth
but I wish I could do more to help her realize that she is so close.

This week has been crazy. We are always busy doing stuff with with the ward. Bishop is stressed out because of the ward boundary change. He has to do a lot but there is not enough time. We try to help
but there is only so much that we can do.

There has been a lot that has gone on but just boring stuff so I won't bother you with all of that.

Hope you all have a great week!!

Love, 

Elder Berry

November 8, 2016

Hello everyone,

Transfers just happened and my new companion is Elder Duncan from Syracuse, Utah. He has been out 6 weeks less than me so we are still pretty young in our mission. This is exciting because we both really want to get to work and see some miracles happen in the ward.

This last week was kind of hard saying goodbye to Elder Jeffs. We spent the last few days saying goodbye to members and it was extremely hard not to think post mission plans and what I am going to do after my mission. But with elder Duncan it is already better because we both know that we have a while before we go home so we have refocused ourselves.

In 1 month is when I will have been out for 6 months. That is so crazy to think how fast time has gone and I don't know where it all went. But I would not trade the last 5 months for anything. It is really a great blessing to not do things for myself but fully devote my time to serving other people.

With Elder Jeffs going home so does the car. And with the ward boundary change we have a 70 minute bike ride from where we live to the top of our area. In all we will be biking around 50 miles a day. So we are going to really have to become pros at planning to handle our big area.

Elder Anderson is in my zone so I will be getting to see him a lot over the next few months!!

This is going to be a great transfer and I know that there will be a lot of miracles happening here in the California Sacramento Mission.

Never forget who suffered for us all so that we can have great joy!!!

Elder Payton Berry

October 31, 2016

Hello everyone,

This week has been crazy. We have been super busy with the ward boundary change. We have been going and seeing a lot of the less active people that came into our ward. And we have been getting a lot of promise in referrals from them that I am way excited about. I am super excited for November and December because the ward will be doing really well with the work. We went to this one older ladies named Sister Fedje house to introduce our selfs and tell her what time
church starts and all of the good details. Then she told us that she lives with her ex-son-in-law named David and her granddaughter. The reason that David lives with his ex-mother-in-law is because Sister
Fedje wants to live with her grandchild. Any way Sister Fedje said that David said that he wants to be more officially apart of the LDS church. He has gone to church every Sunday and he said he thinks it would be good to have the missionaries over for dinner. So I am way excited for that.

Then it has rained quit a bit the last week. But since we got a way bigger area now we get a car. So we have been able to miss the rain storms by a lot. But I think it is way fun to bike in the rain after
you totally get soaked all the way through.

Then it was Elder Jeffs' birthday yesterday. So there has been a lot of people that have been feeding us lunches and dinners because it was his birthday. It has been super crazy on all of the good food that we have been getting. But it was super fun to get to see him celebrate his 3rd birthday as a missionary.

Then there has been a lot of people things back home and this saddens me because life is so precision. And I know that some people have not been privlieged to have the knowledge of what happens after this life. I was able to go to a funeral on Saturday of a woman who did not
have the knowledge of what will happen after this life. And during the whole funeral and hearing of the news of the fatalities back home made me think of Alma 40:11 wich says "11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection--Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life." I know that we will return to our Eternal Heavenly Father. And I know that many people do not know this truth. And I would beckon you to share the knowledge that you have with someone who does not have that

knowledge. So that you can bring peace to their heart. And hopefully help them know that we will return to live will our Eternal Heavenly Father!!

I love you all and hope this letter finds you well and gives you more hope for the future knowing that death is not the end of life.

Love, Elder Berry