July 31, 2017

Hi Everyone!

This has been an interesting week. I am now in a trio and it is definitely different. But it is good to be able to have a 3rd companion to learn from and to help me become a better missionary. My new companion name is Elder Richins. He is from Taylor, Utah and goes home in October. We probably will only be in a trio for the rest of August. But I am excited to see what miracles we see in the coming month.

It was my other companions birthday on Sunday so we were able to celebrate that and it was fun to be able to see him have a good birthday. We all should have good birthday. At least once a year to where we can looked back and see how blessed we have been with the people who are around us.

But we had a lesson with a family that we have been working with and it has been cool to see their growth. This Thursday we are going to go on a temple tour and try to extend a baptismal invitation to the family. We are super excited to see what happens this Thursday. I will try to remember how it goes and to write about it.

But there is not a lot of experiences that come to my mind for this week. We just spent s lot of time trying to figure living arrangements out with the trio and working all of that out. I now cover 3 wards so life is going to get really busy over the next month but it will be good because it will just help time to by faster.

I hope that you all have a great week!

Sincerely,
Elder Berry

July 24, 2017

Hello,

It was another great week here. A lot of great this are happening. A lot of people came to church which was super awesome to see. One person who came to church was a man by the name of Tom. I met Tom a couple months ago. He is a less active member who has not been to church in quite a few years. When we first met him we challenged him to start reading the Book of Mormon at lease one chapter a day. Then he got busy with his summer plans and we lost contact for about 6 weeks until we saw him again last Friday. We asked him how the reading has been going and he said that he had just
finished the book of Jacob. I was like wow that is a long streak to be reading the Book of Mormon. We asked him if he had noticed any changes in him self and Tom said "I think I am a better person because of it." Then his wife agreed very strongly. It was just really cool to see how The Book of Mormon can change us for the better. Even if it is just reading one chapter a day. There is so much power in the Book of Mormon that all we have to do is open it and it will hang us for the better.

Then it has been fun to get to know Elder Burrows. You learn a lot from each companion that you have and I have already learned a lot from him. As I have been on my mission I have come to learn that no matter how much you know there is someone else who knows something that you don't. All you have to do is humble yourself and let them teach you what has blessed there lives.

But this week has been really fun. We have been catching people at home that I haven't been able to catch since I have been here. We have started working with this investigator named James. He is a super cool guy and who says he is a fighter for God and does not really believe in any one religion. It was cool to see as we talked about the Book of Mormon that it started from I won't be a member to I will join if that's what God wants me to. It so amazing to see how much power the Holy Ghost has on softening people hearts.

Well I hope all of you have a great week. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!!

Sincerely,
Elder Berry

July 18, 2017

Hello everyone,

Transfers have come and I am staying in the same ward for at least another 6 weeks. My new companion is Elder Burrows from Utah. He has been on his mission for about 4 months. It should be a really fun transfer. I can't wait to see what the lord has in store for us and what great things are going to happen in this area this transfer.

It was sad to say good by to Elder Pearson since we were together for so long but all things happen for a reason. But this last week we were able to go out with a youth in our ward named Kyle. He has gotten his mission call to Washington DC North Mission. So he has been coming out with us for a while so he can be as prepared for his mission as possible. Really cool because one night that he went out with us we went and taught a lesson to a less active member. And Heavenly Father has really been working with her to help her be prepared to come back to church. We were able to talk with her about the Plan of Salvation because she has had a recent death in the family. She seemed to believe in the Plan of Salvation but once we assured her that it is the plan that God has for us she seemed to take comfort from that.

This last week I was able to go on exchanges again up into Georgetown and do some missionary work there. We met the ward mission leader who is a really cool guy. He use to play the piano professionally for Ted Nugin. He is really good at the piano. He played for us for about 5 minutes and he shredded the keys on the piano. But the amazing part is he has really thick fingered and that didn't stop him from doing anything cool on the piano. I would send a video of him playing but my iPad can't send videos very well so you will just have to take my word for it.

Hope you have a great week.

Sincerely,
Elder Berry

July 10, 2017

Hello everyone,

This week flew by, today we had a zone activity where the missionaries in our zone got to gather for a portion of our pday which was pretty fun. We had every companionship bring food. It was potluck
style breakfast. So Elder Pearson and I had some elk meat that was given to us by our bishop so we decided to do an egg hash brown elk meat combo where we put it all together. But we didn't tell them that it was elk meat. So they all got some of the food and started eating it and we told them that it was elk meat and they were like "I can t believe it's elk meat. They said it taste a whole lot like beef. So after that we played around in the gym a little bit then we left and now I am emailing.

Next week we will have transfers. Elder Pearson has been her for 6 months so it is highly likely that he will be getting transferred. So I won't be emailing until Tuesday next week because of transfers. But I really don't know who my new companion will be if if Elder Pearson gets transferred because you can't predict the will of the Lord, or at least I can't.

Then for the 4th of July we went to a our 4th of July part that out Ward put together. That was pretty fun nothing to exciting happened there. After that at 7 pm we had to be at the church building for training. The reason that we had a training from 7-9 pm is because they didn't want the missionaries on the street, to help protect them. So we had a training about following the Spirit. It was really good. We talked about how the Spirit talks to us and how we need to act on the 1st prompting that we receive from the Holy Ghost.

Then on Thursday I got to meet my new mission president and wife. President and Sister Hymas. And they are super cool I really like them a lot. They are really fun. As much as I love President and Sister Jardine, I'm going to love President and Sister Hymas just as much. If you would have to say the biggest difference from President Jardine and President Hymas the only thing I could think of right now would be President Hymas seems a little more causal. That isn't a bad thing or he is loose on the rules. He still has the same expectations as President Jardine but he is more casual in the sense of in a meeting if it is really hot then he will let us take off our suits.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,
Elder Berry

July 3, 2017

Dearest Family and Friends,

Things have been good this week, a lot has happened. On Monday we had a a lesson with a less active member. He is a really good man but he has some Word of Wisdom problems. On Monday we had a really good talk about how everything comes down to the Book of Mormon and if it is true. We ended up having him read D.C. 89 and pray about it. We will go and see how that went for him and if he got his answer. It is just a matter of time before he gets his answer. It is all up to the Lord's time for when he comes back to church.

Then I got to go on a team up with Elder Hatch this week, he was my last companion. We had some real fun. It was just like the good old times when we were companions just a few months ago. We were able to see an investigator who has lost a lot of of loved one and who is just in survival mode and has not really been that happy. So we talked about how joy from the scriptures brings us the most joy. That all she needs in life right now is just some joy from up above.

Then I got to say goodbye to my mission president, President and Sister Jardine last Wednesday. It was bitter sweet. Both of them really have changed my life. It was a really good zone conference. We talked about how Jesus Christ is at the bottom of everything and if it was not for him then we would not be where we are at or be the people that we are today. It is such a blessing that Heavenly is all knowing and knows what is best for us to put us in the best situation for us to succeed.

Then I got to go on a team up into Georgetown. It was really fun, but a lot of driving. It is really cool to see how over the course of my mission that no matter what, the church is true and we are all exactly where we need to be to bless the lives of many. You never now what
impact that you will have on people.

Our new mission president is, President Hymas. Though I am excited to see what President Hymas will bring, I am going to miss President Jardine.  He seems like a super great man. I have not gotten to meet him yet so I will keep you posted on when I do meet him.

I hope you have a great week and all is well with you, remember to stay safe on the 4th.

Sincerely,
Elder Berry