Warren Transfer Two Week Two

hey everyone!

another nice warm week here. things have been going pretty well. were still workin on finding new people. seems like everyone we find or get members to invite lives in another area haha. so its cool but we still want to find somebody we can teach. all the recent converts here are doin well.

so i forgot to tell you what happened last week at the fourth of july bbq. there was a couople elders tryin to grill over charcoals but couldnt get them going at all so i went over and opened the bottom of the grill up so the charcoals could light and then they gave me the matches to start it and all took a step back. that shoulda been a red flag but i didnt think bout it quick enough and as soon as i struck the match the whole thing blew up. so i lost most of my eyelashes and some of my eyebrows and arm hair. i looked really funny cuz everything was all burnt and white. but hopefully they come back before i get home.

im excited to hear nana and papas papers are going in. love you all and give hankers the lovins for me

elder berry

July 5, 2011

hey everyone!

this week was pretty good. yesterday was a really fun fourth of july. the whole zone went down to lisbon to the browns house and had a barbeque. it was so fun to go back to an old area. really weird at the same time though.

as far as the missionary work goes were still just trying to find people to teach. weve got some prospects but nothin too solid yet. the ward members here all just talk bout how soon e anderson and i are goin home its kinda funny. were tryin to keep em focused on the missionary work though lol. kinda backwards.

we were out tracting this last week and were walking on the grass and my foot sunk all the way up to my knee in mud lol. it was funny and gross at the same time. my shoe was full of mud. so we had to go to the church and try and scrub it all off. but thats probly the most exciting thing thats happened.

anyways love you all and give hankers the lovins too
elder berry

Warren Transfer One Week Six

hey everyone!

sorry i didnt email last week. things here have been awesome. elder anderson and i are staying here and finishing our missions together which is awesome.

the weather here has been beautiful. doesnt feel like summer at all. those that have recently been baptized are all doing well. were still working on finding new people and have had some success. we found this one couple named the schaffers and have seen them twice. she talked to her pastor bout the church and got some anti from him but was still willing to listen to us and read from the book of mormon and pray. hopefully they stick to it and dont get too much opposition from those around them.

things are goin well. i got an email from ran. shes still in china and her family is going to church with her. she says that shes doin well and likes the church there a ton. it was really exciting to hear that. but i love you all and will talk to you soon.

elder berry

Warren Week Four

hey everyone!

i cant believe that this is the last full week of this transfer. time has flown by. this weekend was pretty awesome. clinton got baptized and naomi and lexi were confirmed!!! it was really exciting and the spirit was so strong and they were all really happy. so it was a great week. we were supposed to be going to kirtland with clinton tonight but for some reason they told us we cant go. not sure why cuz bishop wanted us to go and talk to clinton bout serving a mission so well see.

im really hoping e anderson and i get to stay together another transfer. we find out next week so i wont be emailing til tuesday. the weather has warmed up quite a bit and the rain has stopped coming so often. i wanted to send some pictures but i forgot the card reader so if i remember it next week ill send some.

we met a lady yesterday named prophetess pam haha. she was funny. you get to meet all kinds of people out here and some of em are kinda crazy. keeps it interesting. but things are goin great.

love you and take care of hankers for me
elder berry

Warren Week Three

hey everyone!

this week has been pretty awesome! naomi and lexi got baptized yesterday! it was great. they were really happy. next sunday clinton will be getting baptized too. so we will have a couple good weeks in a row. its always awesome to see it all come together.

we had zone conference this week and it was awesome. the next day i got a call from prez saying i was supposed to go home in september but he changed it to august so i could make it for school and stuff. that was weird. i kinda got excited to stay a little longer but it had already been changed and sent to salt lake so ill still be coming home in august. and to answer your question mom you can email pictures. thats fine. id love it too.

we also had a service project this week. we went to youngstown with the whole zone and boarded up an abandoned house and took care of some community flower beds. it was fun. except i got bit by something on my leg and had a huge welt and it itched like crazy. its doing good now though. just added some excitement.

i cant believe its june already. blows my mind. this transfer is going by so fast. so e anderson and i found this board game in our closet that is way fun. its an old clue game called the great museum caper. so thats probly what we will do today lol. anyways i love you all and give hankers the lovins too.

elder berry

E Cleveland Transfer Three Week Five

hey! it was soo good to get to talk to you all. guess what?!?! im getting transferred!! so ill let you know where i end up. all i know is that it wont be in the kirtland zone :( im gonna miss it. this place is awesome and i love getting to see the temple all the time. ive loved being able to serve here in cleveland. im going to miss all the people i have met but somewhere new will be good too. well i dont have much to say after tlaking with you all this weekend.

i love you.
give hankers the lovins for me!

E Cleveland Transfer Three Week Three

hey everyone! happy easter!! this week was pretty good. there were a few days we didnt have to wear jackets! thats really exciting. there was also another baptism in teh singles branch here on saturday. his name is justin. we didnt teach him cuz he lives out of our area but he has been coming to the singles branch on sunday for a while now. my bike seat broke again this week too lol. i was riding down the road and all of a sudden i fell off the back of my bike! luckily i landed on my feet somehow and ended up running down the road while my bike did a ghost rider and crashed. it was pretty funny. everyone was laughin at me on the street but i was laughin to so its alright. its been raining like crazy here too. probly just like g. one day we were out on our bikes and it poured rain all day and every appointment we had cancelled haha. we were so wet and so cold that day but it was pretty fun. i wish it would snow instead of rain. cuz its so cold you can see your breathe and its still raining. the snow gets you much less wet but oh well. its a step towards warmer weather. so im giving a workshop in district meeting this week (ive given alot of em now i just never mention em) but every time i do i always use an analogy bout hank haha. its awesome. so im totally gonna use those easter pictures you sent me this week mom. thank you for the package i loved it. but give hankers the lovins for me. love you all
elder berry

Best Week Ever

hey everyone this week was awesome!! rans baptism was amazing! she was so happy and just beaming afterwards. a member of the branch baptized her. there was an awesome musical number by a couple of the music students and really good talks too. she even invited a bunch of friends to her baptism and then on sunday introduced herself to a new guy that came and invited him to come back next week. she just loves the gospel and shares it with everyone its so awesome. every month here they have a fireside at the kirtland visitors center for the investigators to go to and the people in charge asked ran to share her testimony there. so we found an investigator to take so we could see ran share her testimony lol. im so glad i did though. that was the best day of my life. that ten minutes of her sharing her testimony made my entire mission worth it. not that it wasnt worth it before but that event alone could have made the whole thing worthwhile. she bore her testimony about prayer and the love of god and how she has found peace in her life and cant wait to share it with her family so they can be an eternal family and how she knows the book of mormon is true. it was amazing. im so glad ive had the chance to meet her and become friends and help her understand the gospel. i wish you all could have been there but its something ill never forget. hope this is enough detail for you mom. love you all . give hankers the lovins

E Cleveland Transfer Two Week Six

hey everyone! this week has been pretty good. conference was amazing as usual. i loved elder holland talking about the ensign to the nations. his talks from when he was president of byu are absollutely amazing too. i just started reading them and listening to em and im addicted. i recommend you looking at em. especially .. alright well i cant pick just one to tell you to listen to. also his conference talks called "the only true god and jesus christ whom he sent" and the second half the next year called "my words never cease" are amazing. but anyways thats enough bout him. it snowed this week agian. and rained. and had nice warm sunny days. the weather is unpredictable. as i watched conference and especially in priesthood session i thought about you guys alot. i miss watching conference with you and especially being at priesthood with dad. its good to know that we were all watchin the same thing at the same time though. speakin of which im tired of sittin around watching tv all day lol. its the exact opposite of what missionaries do so its weird to do it at conference. ran is still doing amazing. she invited one of her friends in china to go to church there this last week. she also watched all four sessions of conference. were looking forward to her baptism in a couple more weeks. thats bout all from here though. love you. give hankers the lovins!
elder berry

E Cleveland Transfer Two Week Five

hey everyone im stayin here in cleveland! im excited cuz now ill get to see ran's baptism in a couple weeks. shes doin awesome. we went with her and a couple members to kirtland last saturday and it was awesome. she bore her testimony about the church and joseph smith there. i wish everyone could see the blessings the gospel brings in their life like she does. sunday started early but was amazing. it was the 175th anniversary of the dedication of the kirtland temple. at seven in the morning they had a service and we got to be inside the kirtland temple and listen to carl anderson, pres sorensen and a member of the seventy speak. there was a choir and an orchestra and everything. it was amazing. as the meeting went on the sun started coming up and lighting the inside of the temple then at the end we all sang the spirit of god which was written for the dedication of the temple. ill never forget that experience. it was so amazing. i wish you all could have enjoyed it with me. i love being in kirtland and being able to see the temple. i wish i could serve closer to it. but other than that not alot has happened this week. were just trying to find people still and work with the members to invite their friends. since hte ward is mostly students when school ends in the next few weeks were gonna be losing twelve families. thats more than half the ward. im not exactly sure whats gonna happen then but we'll see when we get there. hope everything is goin well for you. give hankers the lovins.
elder berry

E Cleveland Transfer Two Week Four

hey everyone this week was awesome. it was really warm and sunny, little rainy too but not bad. ran decided to get baptized for sure on the sixteenth of april!!! they announced it in church and everything. shes so excited. every time we get to teach her its amazing. its the best feeling in the world to get out of an appointment with her. shes awesome and totally going to build the kingdom. im really excited for her. other than that not alot has been going on like usual. there was a big meeting in cleveland this week so i was on exchanges with like four different elders which was cool. i went to euclid for a day. its not too far from cleveland. this transfer has gone by so fast. speakin of which i wont email till tues next week cuz its transfers next week. anyways i gotta get goin. love you all. give hankers the lovins
elder berry

E Cleveland Trnasfer Two Week Three

hey everyone! this week was pretty good. Ran is awesome! its a surprise every week that we teach her. the first time she said shed been praying every day and knows the book of mormon is true. then the next time she told us shes been teaching her parents about the church and this week she brought one of her friends to the lesson and now were teaching him too! i wish every investigator was like that. now were trying to find her some stuff in chinese to take to her parents when she goes back to visit cuz she wants to teach them since theres no missionaries there. not too much else has been going on. it snowed another foot in one night. the weather here changes really fast cuz now its warmer and almost all gone but will be back again. other than that weve just been tracting and still trying to find some more people like ran. hope all is going well for everyone. miss you all. give hankers the lovins.
elder berry

Cleveland Transfer Two week Two

aloha! this week was pretty good. were still working on finding investigators and not having too much success at the moment but our investigator Ran is doing awesome! im so blessed to be able to teach her. she has truly turned to the lord in prayer and gained a testimony of her own. we got her a book of mormon in chinese too to help her understand it better which was good. its awesome to hear the scriptures read in another language. they are still so powerful. also on sunday she went and asked to talk to the branch president all on her own and talked to him for an hour! investigators never do that. so were really excited for her. there was a baptism in kirtland this saturday so we went to that with her and she loved it and is so excited to get baptized. its cool too cuz shes from china and has such a strong testimony already and will be going back to china later this year for a couple months and can teach the gospel there cuz missionaries arent allowed in china yet. i think its part of the lords way of preparing china to receive the gospel. not much else has been happening. ive started studying the book of mormon in spanish lol. so thats cool. it reads alot different in spanish which is really surprising. means the same though. thats all i have for ya this week though. give hankers some extra special lovins for me this week! love you all
elder berry

Cleveland Transfer Two Week One

hey everyone.well the snow came back in full force. we got about two feet in one night. it was crazy. the car got stuck quite a few times that day. fun stuff. i just feel bad for elder martinez cuz hes not allowed to drive so hes always outside pushin or diggin us out. but other than that things have been goin good. we started teaching Ran. i think i told you bout her before. her friend is a recent convert in the singles branch. but its awesome shes really interested and coming to church and institute and fhe every week. even if her friend isnt there. there was a talent show this saturday for the singles and it was awesome. theres alot of people goin to the cleveland institute of music so the performances were awesome. even ran performed. weve really been focusing on getting the members to do missionary work and its been paying off but the only problem is all of the friends they invite and bring to church or to meet with us live in another area so we cant teach them after that and have to give them up to some other elders. its cool to find people just wish we could teach em. and the members get frustrated too cuz they want us to teach them and for them to come to our ward. but thats how the church works. theyll get over it haha. im finally figuring out my way around town. so thats cool. but thats bout it for this week. love and miss you all. give hankers the lovins!!!
elder berry

Cleveland Week Six

hey everyone. things are going good here. my new companion is elder martinez from mexico. there were a couple really warm days this week and all the snow melted!!! then the next day was freezing rain then more snow so we have a few inches again now. it was a nice taste of spring. were still workin on finding people and finally got a couple members of teh singles branch to invite friends to church so hopefully well start teaching them this week. not too much else going on though. i miss all of you and give hankers the lovins for me.
elder berry

Tuesday February 15th

aloha and happy valentines!

its been a nice warm week here in cleveland. we found out last night that elder judd is being transferred. were really bummed bout that. im a little worried cuz i can barely get aroudn the area. the roads here are insane! i swear they were laid out by guys with blindfolds on. but ill manage and figure it out eventually. itll be an adventure for sure. ill let you know who my new comp is next week. we were able to see marcy this week and had some really good lessons with her. she is living the word of wisdom now! were way excited for her. she should be getting baptized on mar fifth. shes our most promising investigator right now. were still just trying to do alot of finding. we are really blessed to even have an investigator. most of the rest of the district doesnt have anyone to teach and spend all their time looking for people. also found out i have strep throat lol. so im going to get antibiotics or whatever today. but things are going well. thank you all for the valentines. love you all. give hankers the lovins for me
elder berry

aloha! wish it was as warm and sunny as hawaii but for now the snow will have to do. weve got alot of it this last week. this last week was kinda rough. we werent able to see any of our investigators all week and they didnt come to church either. thats always a bummer . we did see plenty of miracles though. we found this less active family named the springers and taught them saturday night and committed them to go to church and they did! they are way cool and seem ready to come back steadily. another of the less actives we are working with came to church for the second week in a row. so things are progressing just not with investigators. as a district this weekend we fasted to find new investigators and have already seen the blessings come from it. we were tracting on saturday and got two return appointments with pretty solid people which is unheard of here. also a recent convert named shih-ping brought her roommate ran (yes thats her name, theyre asian) to church! we have always tried to talk to her and invite her to the lessons but she never would but now shes coming to church and said shed go to singles branch fhe and institute this week. she really liked church. fasting works. thats all i can say. transfers are next week so i wont email until tuesday. but i hope you all have a great week. love you. give hankers the lovins!
elder berry

Cleveland Week Three

hey everyone! hope all is goin well for you. things are goin good here. we had an awesome lesson with Marcy and her family this week. we taaught them about family prayer and theyre workin on saying them every day. she is our most promising investigator right now and will most likely be baptized soon. other than that were just trying to stay warm and find solid people to teach. every friday we go to the college here and have a booth up. its pretty fun. get to talk to alot of people. its really weird to see white people there too haha. one of the member families we have been working with finally invited some friends to church this sunday and we were so excited cuz they were really nice and interested to learn more so we set up an appointment with them this week but found out they dont live in our area. that was a bummer. still awesome though but we just have to keep looking for more families to teach. i want to teach a whole family so bad. that would be awesome. hopefully ill get the chance. also this sunday two less actives that weve been teaching came to church which was really exciting. the ward actually said hi to em and stuff too it was sweet. thank you all for your letters and make sure to write the other elder berry too! love you all. give hankers the lovins for me
elder berry

Cleveland Week Two

hey everyone sorry its been so long since iv emailed. its been a crazy week. we have all just been passin around different sicknesses and theres been some pretty funny stuff thats happened but ill spare you the details cuz it all involves throwing up. so not alot has happened unfortunately. although one of the days we were feelin good we went to this place called mama santas down in little italy and had the best pizza iv ever had in my life. it was soooo good. we also had interviews with president today which was good. i was sick and didnt shake hands with anyone so he gave me an elbow bump haha. but things have been good. i dont have much else to say really its been a slow week. love you all and give hankers the lovins for me. tell dill dill ill write him soon too.
elder berry

Cleveland

hey everyone! im up in cleveland now! its waay colder up here than down in the falls. i miss the people there so much. my new companion is elder judd and hes pretty cool. ive been sick the past few days which is a terrible way to start out a new area but im doin better now. this place is so different from anywhere ive been before. theres a little italy part of town which is awesome and smells so good all the time. then we have a really rich suburb of cleveland and the bad parts of cleveland as well. its strange too cuz e judd and i are the only white guys around usually haha. the church is really small here and struggling but it will turn around soon. its weird being in the kirtland stake now too. in the district there are seven sisters then elder judd and i so it will be interesting. its way cool being so close to kirtland though. we get to go there almost every week. other than that im just tryin to figure out my way around and stuff. oh and our apartmnt uses steam heaters to heat the place up. i thought that was weird. anyways i miss you all and thank you all for the letters. love you. take care of spanky for me.
elder berry

Transfer to Cleveland

hey mom and dad im in cleveland!!! i got called to be a district leader and have six sister missionaries in my district lol. my address is 2635 N Moreland Blvd #103 cleveland oh 44120