Elder Trevor Berry's Mission

Warren Transfer Two Week Two

2011-07-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-22T15:45:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-07T22:29:00.001-08:00

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

2011-01-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

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

C Falls Transfer Five Week Two

2010-12-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

hey everyone! thank you so much for all your letters and packages. i love hearing from you all. as far as the missionary work goes this week has been a trial week. on tuesday we went to the kirtland temple which was awesome. we had mission conference there and had the sacrament in the temple. it was amazing. on wed we had interviews with president which was good. we spent alot of time talking about the burgess family with him. then our week kinda fell apart lol. to start off our two most promising investigators dropped us within a half hour of each other. that was a huge shock i didnt see it coming at all. they were both doing so well and it was heartbreaking to know they knew it was true and turn away from it. hopefully theyll come around. then our other family we were teaching said they couldnt meet with us till mid january sometime so we pretty much lost everyone we were teaching. then e hicks got really sick and slept for like two days straight so not alot happened this week. we went from teaching twenty one lessons last week to teaching five this week haha. but this next week should be better. im just excited to not be sitting around the apartment anymore. weve gotten a ton of snow lately too. close to a foot just in the last day and its still comin down strong. but thats bout all the updates from ohio. i love you all and merry christmas! give hankers the lovins for me.
elder berry

C Falls

2010-11-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

hey everyone good news....IM STAYING HERE!!!! i cant begin to explain how excited i am to be staying in the falls. e hicks is staying too which is awesome. i would love to spend the rest of my mission here but unfortunately that probly wont happen. this last week was pretty good though. we now have six people preparing for baptism in december and january which is sweet. this area is amazing. last night we actually taught a family at the bishops home which was a little intimidating at first but turned out really well. i think i also forgot to mention that we got new phones now that are really nice and we can text which is kinda weird. it helps though cuz people always text us and now we can text them back if we need to. unfortunately some missionaries use it way too much. but thats bout it for this week. im mostly just so excited to be stayin here with e hicks and have christmas and stuff here. love and miss you all. give hankers the lovins for me. speakin of i hear youre takin good care of him grandma. thanks
elder berry

C Falls

2010-11-08T09:10:00.001-08:00

aloha!!! so this last week has been pretty crazy. first off we found out late monday night that we were going to be out of town all day tues and wed so we had to cancel seven of our appointments. it was sad cuz we worked so hard to get them all and they were all people we have been trying to teach for a long time. oh well. itll work out somehow. so we went to medina for those two days and i went up to cleveland for a meeting. it was really long but really good and i learned alot from president sorensen. its startign to get cold and even snowed two different days this week! its crazy. ill be glad when i dont have to worry bout snow in the winter anymore. we have an appointment today with the burgess family (one of the ones weve been trying to teach that cj, the deacon, referred us to). im excited for that. we also got a referral from a member family and saw them and set up an appointment for later tonight. we had a scare at church yesterday. sis gerstenslauger started having heart problems during sacrament but luckily theres a bunch of residents in the ward so they took care of her till the ambulance came. they arent sure if she had a mini stroke but thats their best guess. shes doin alright now though which is a blessing. but thats about all thats been going on this week. love and miss you all. give hankers the lovins
elder berry

Cuyahoga Falls Transfer Three Week Six

2010-10-18T09:51:00.001-07:00

hey everyone! im still here in the falls and lovin it. the weather is starting to get cold which stinks but the trees are beautiful. im serving with elder hicks now. hes from westland oregon which is just south of portland. hes awesome and were havin lots of fun and working really hard which is good. i dont even feel like im training really. theres only been a few times that hes said funny stuff or done funny things only a new person would do. he actually had to speak in church his first sunday out here lol. we set a baptismal date with a new investigator named david this week for nov 27th. we were excited about that. weve just been doin alot of tracting and trying to find people and teaching less actives. transfer meeting was fun to go to but weird at the same time seein all the guys i came out with going home. i cant believe how fast that two years went by. thats fun that nana and papa stopped in wooster. if i were to go back i dont think i could get around that well. seems like a long time ago but just yesterday at the same time. well thats bout all thats going on this week. love you all. give hankers the lovins for me
elder berry

C Falls Transfer Three Week Five

2010-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! this week has been pretty good. the weather has warmed up a little which is awesome. so on sunday president called me and told me ill be training a new missionary this next transfer so yesterday i went up to cleveland for a meeting all day which was fun. im really excited for a brand new companion and to work really hard. one funny thing that happened this week is we were riding down a big hill and all of a sudden my bike seat broke off and i totally ate it. luckily i hit the tuck and roll in time but it was weird cuz it happened out of nowhere. i laughed bout it. but thats bout it. i should have alot more to write next week. love you all
elder berry.

C Falls Transfer Three Week Four

2010-10-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

hey everyone! first of all im sorry for slacking the past few weeks. im gonna try to do better. i cant believe this transfer is almost over and elder coleman is goin home next week. thats crazy. things have been going pretty good around here but pretty slow as well. were just trying to find people and work hard. conference this weekend was amazing. there were alot of good talks but i thought pres uchtdorf was the best. his priesthood talk about pride was amazing. for anyone that didnt see that you need to watch it. its online now. thank you all for the birthday wishes. i wish i coulda been there with you all but it was still a good birthday. one of our investigators, terry, died this week. he was an old guy but nobody saw it coming. ill miss him. anyways thats bout all going on here. give hankers the lovins for me. miss you all.
elder berry

C Falls Transfer Three Week Two

2010-09-20T10:05:00.001-07:00

This week was really exciting. We set a baptismal date with Jennifer Burgess (She was the member referral family) for October and her whole family came to church this week. We have been trying to be able to sit down and teach the husband as well but havent been able to yet. Hopefully his attendance at church will open him up to us a little more. I am really excited for them. They have truly been prepared by the Lord to hear His gospel. I absolutely love this area and the people we meet here. Lately I have had alot of time to study the Book of Mormon and I truly love this book. I am so thankful for all those who sacrificed so much so that we could have it. Thank you all for your letters and especially nana and papa for the orange rolls. i was so excited to get them. theyre almost gone already. love you all.
elder berry

CFalls Trans Two Week Five

2010-09-01T10:51:00.001-07:00

hey everyone this week has flown by. we found out last night that elder coleman and i are both staying which is awesome. i love this area and really dont wanna leave. not much has been going on though. weve just been tracting alot and trying to find people and working with alot of less actives. the other two guys in our district are both leaving and somebody is going to be training in tallmadge. should be fun to have a greeny around. we went to see jennifer and william, the family weve been teaching but they were really sick so hopefully we can see them soon. anyways i love you all. sorry theres not much to say
elder berry

CFalls Transfer Two Week Four

2010-09-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

aloha!!! this week has been pretty good. things are starting to pick up around here and the weather is cooling down a bit too which makes things even better. i absolutely love this area and im hopin to stay for another couple transfers. cant believe how fast this one is going by. we taught a new family this week. the one cj referred us to last week. the dad was in and out of the lesson unfortunately but the mom , jennifer, seemed really interested and had good questions. we had another apointment with them on sat but somethin came up and they werent there. i was sad about that but hopefully well get back with them soon. we also had an awesome referral from mormon.org this week. we taught a guy named mike and brought him a bible and shared the restoration with him and were bringing him a book of mormon this week. hes younger in his low twenties but a nice guy and understands alot about the gospel already just from what he was talkin to us about. hes gonna go into the army next year and was wantng to make sure he had things right with god before he left. perfect opportunity for him to learn about the church. so were excited to teach him. thats bout it though. mary beth is still stuck out of town and we dont know whats going on with her. thank you all so much for your letters and prayers. i miss you all but am enjoying the work. give hankers the lovins for me.
elder berry

CFalls Trans Two Week Three

2010-08-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! things are going good here. finally starting to pick up a little. we have a few new investigators this week which is really exciting and we have a new family we are going to start teaching on tues! we were over at the grants house, theyre two boys are recent converts. theyre way cool and only twelve but theyve been bringing their friend who lives two houses down to church and hes only six but cj, one of the grants kids, went over and committed them to take the missionary lessons! so we went over with him the next day and set up a time to see them on tues. hes such an awesome kid and such an example to me. i wish every member was like him. we truly do have a gift and should want to share it with everyone . we went on exchanges with the zone leaders this week. i was with e thornton who just got released from being ap. we stayed here in the falls and had a pretty good time. im excited for it to be cooling down here in a few weeks hopefully. we had zone conference this week too which was good. it was a nice break to be able to sit inside all day. but im not sure what else to say bout this week really. just been tracting and tryin to find people. love you all.
elder berry

CFalls Transfer 2 week 2

2010-08-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

hey! cant believe how quick this last week went by. there were a few hot days but mostly the weather was amazing. pretty cool and some rain. elder coleman and i are still havin a blast. not alot happened this week. mary beth got stuck out of town so we werent able to see them and we are going to have to move her baptism till next week just so we have time to get everything prepared since she was gone. she still needs to be interviewed and stuff. i cant believe summer is almost over and g is comin back so soon. oh and i realized this week that im starting all of my lasts. this is my last aug ninth in ohio. its kinda cool. i always looked at the missionaries that had been out a year and never thought id hit that point. im excited to play rock star for a day at zoned out lol. ive been practicing during lunch. i know i dont sing well but im gonna give it a shot singin and playin at the same time. well see how big of a fool i make out of myself haha. this week is supposed to be really hot again so im definitely ready for the fall. thank you all so much for your letters. love you all
elder berry

Cfalls Trans Two Week One

2010-08-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

aloha!! this week has been pretty good. i love elder coleman. we have so much fun workin together. hes an awesome guy. the weather has either been perfect and really cool out or burning hot. depends on the day. yesterday was the most stressful day of church ive ever had. every minute we were there we were busy running around setting up appointments and getting people rides and a whole bunch of stuff. it was good though. we got alot accomplished. mary beth is doing really well. she hasnt smoked for over a week now. shes working hard to get baptized. hopefully were going to take her to kirtland soon. so scary story, i was riding my bike on the sidewalk going the opposite direction of traffic and my bike lock was on my handlebars. suddenly it bounced up and locked up my handlebars somehow and made me steer off into traffic and i couldnt turn it back cuz it was stuck. scared me and e coleman to death. but i jumped off the bike in time and managed to save it too. so dont worry mom im alright. we have a mission conference coming up in september. its called zoned out and im gonna be playing guitar at it which im so excited for. ive always wanted to be a rockstar lol. its called zoned out and is just kinda a fun day for missionaries that they do every other year and have games and stuff. so im excited to play. but anyways. i feel like this week was really productive but im not sure what else to say. weve just been busy trying to get people to church and our efforts payed off on sunday. thank you so much for your letters and especially for the pictures mom. i love you all. give hank extra lovins for me
elder berry

C Falls Week Six

2010-07-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

hey everyone! thank you all so much for the letters this week. i miss you all a ton. so i got a new companion and guess who it is?!?! elder coleman! hes the one from georgia that was in my mtc district. so its been fun. we get along really well are good friends. elder koford is going home on thursday. im gonna miss him alot. ill probably be with e coleman till he goes home in october which will be weird. its been really hot lately. the hottest its been since ive been here. like ninety five with ninety percent humidity. its disgusting when your white shirt turns completely see through from sweat. luckily we have a washer and dryer so we change clothes and do the wash alot. not too much has happened this last week. weve been visiting a couple less actives and havent been able to see mary beth. im getting a little more used to the area but all i did before was try to keep up with e wright so e coleman and i get a little lost but it makes for an adventure. anyways im not sure what else to say but thank you all for the letters. i love you
e berry

C Falls Week Five

2010-07-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

this week was rough, not gonna lie. i was on exchanges for two days out of the area while elder wright was at the training meetings in cleveland so that was alright. i was with two greenies which was kinda fun. then it all went downhill. we wrecked our bikes pretty bad. well elder wright didnt, he was in front of me and hit a tree and bounced off and landed on his feet somehow and i didnt have time to stop and hit his bike laying on the ground and went over the handlebars. im alright but my bike isnt. the back tire is so bent and wobbly its not even funny. then one of our bikes got stolen. we had them locked up and everything and came back and the lock and one of the bikes was gone. im sure they didnt take mine cuz of how bad of condition its in. which is good. so now we have to pay for the bike that got stollen. then the next day elde wright lost his wallet and we never could find it. mary beth is really struggling with smoking too and kinda lost desire to try. its sad. we found out last night that elder wright is being transfered so ill get a new companion tomorrow. im kinda excited for a new guy. i dont know the area at all though so well be getting lost quite a bit which will be an adventure. ill let you know who it is next week and how things are goin. i love you all and miss you tons. give hankers lovins for me
elder berry

C Falls Transfer Five

2010-07-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

hey everyone this week went by pretty quick. nothing really to talk about but its been crazy. they had this huge leadership meeting this week in cleveland that elder wright had to go to for two days. theyre changing alot in the mission and i dont like it very much. were only having zone conference and interviews four times a year now. so ill never get to know prez cuz ill only see him/talk to him four more times before i go home. anyways. so i was in fairlawn for a day working with elder sumsion while my comp was at the meeting. then we both came to c falls and then exchanged back the next day. elder sumsion is a greeny so its funny to work with him. reminds me what i was like as a greeny. seems like forever ago. the meetings arent over yet either so ill be with e sumsion for two more days this week while e wright goes back to cleveland. this week is the last full week in the transfer which is sad. im pretty sure e wright is leaving and i dont really want him too. itll be good though to switch it up a little. even though i still dont know the area. im sure well get lost alot. so we taught mary beth this week. shes struggling with smoking and told us she wanted to move her date back on sunday which was sad but shes still workin towards it. were seeing her tonight. its been burning hot this week. like in the nineties with really high humidity and makes the bike miserable. glad to hear hankers got a spa day. sounds like hes ready to get some lovins. thanks for all your letters. i love you.
elder berry

C Falls Week Three

2010-07-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

i cant believe its already halfway through the transfer. thats crazy. this week was pretty good. im really glad to hear grandma and grandpa are doing better and garretts likin school. sorry im emailing late i forgot yesterday was a holiday so we couldnt email. hope you all had a good fourth of july. i missed being with you. we didnt do anything really. we taught mary beth chastity and the word of wisdom this week. it went really well. she is even going to talk to her boyfriend about marrying him cuz she lives with him half of the time so we'll see. were going to go see her in like an hour. shes cutting back on cigarrettes and is a real example of faith to me. im excited for her to be baptized. its been crazy hot here lately. no fun at all. i talked to e johnson recently and things are going great back in lisbon. everyone is progressing still and getting close to their baptism dates. i miss teaching them. this next week ill be in a city called fairlawn for a few days working with a greeny cuz theres a training meeting for the leaders in cleve so ill be on exchanges for a while. should be alright. hes kinda a goofball from provo but hes a good kid. still on bikes though which stinks. i was hopin for a car while i was away but im not quite that lucky. sounds like you had fun with hank at girls camp. make sure to give him the lovins for me. anyways thats bout all thats been goin on this week. i miss you so much. love you
elder berry

C Falls Week Two

2010-06-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! things are going great here. its humid as all get out which really stinks to ride bikes in but its awesome when youre not. i love the humidity. its almost as humid as it was in hawaii. storms here come really quickly. it can be sunny and hot one minute then tornado warning the next. thats what this week has been like. i love watching the lightning. this week i went on exchanges with elder koford which was way fun. we stopped in a drug store to grab some water and we werent in there longer than five minutes and when we came out it was as dark as night and winds howling and raining like crazy! i couldnt believe how fast it changed. we ran out to lock up our bikes so they didnt blow away and we were completely soaked head to toe in just a few seconds. so we waited inside the store and had the other guys in the car pick us up for dinner there lol. last night another storm came through and we lost our power. it came back on at like one in the morning and the lights all flipped on cuz we forgot to turn them off lol. some huge huge oak trees got knocked down in the wind this week. its crazy to see em just layin around like that. so after district meeting this week we went out to lunch and this new place just opened so we thought we would give it a try. turns out it was their mock week (training week) and we needed reservations to get in but they let us in anyways and we got to eat for free! it was so sweet. it was like seventy dollars worth of food cuz they make you pick an appatizer and everything. so that was way cool. weve had some awesome lessons with rachel and mary beth this week. mary beth (rachels mom) told us that she knows the book of mormon is true and can see how it changes her days and strengthens her faith in Christ. the best part is rachel was telling us how she can see it change her mom and mary beth was saying how much it has changed rachel and how theyve become stronger as a family because of the gospel. its awesome to see it pull families together cuz thats what its all about. anyways i think thats bout the highlights of the week. i miss you all.
elder berry

Cuyahoga Falls Week One

2010-06-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

this week has been awesome! i love this area and my companion. elder wright is awesome and were best friends already. he kinda reminds me alot of tommy which is cool. its been really humid this week. its not hot outside but you sweat like crazy. especially on the bike. im getting alot better at it though. i feel like i could ride forever. some of the hills still get to me and are huge but im doin better. we tried to fix up my bike a little too which i think has helped. the back tire isnt as bent anymore and the handlebars dont get crooked all the time. my chain still falls off occasionaly but im not sure how to fix that haha. not too much has been goin on thats exciting this week. we had an awesome lesson wth mary beth, rachels mom, on sunday. she came to church again and later that day we taught her half of the plan of salvation and committed her to baptism on aug seventh! we were way excited and so was rachel. the spirit was so strong in that lesson and i konw she could feel it. she loves church and learning about the gospel of jesus christ so its a blessing to be teaching her. its amazing how one person can affect the whole family. i love seeing the change that being baptized has made in rachels life. you can see it in her and all about her. she truly is a different person. anyways, i got bit by a dog this week. a stinkin german shepard. we were at a less actives house and it came over and bit my hand while i was standing on the porch. i went to swing at it but stopped myself just in time cuz the person wouldnt have been too happy if i punched their dog in the face. luckily it scared the dog away. i was upset though. nobody here trains their dogs. its the most annoying thing ever. their always barking and jumping everywhere. makes me miss hankers. i loved the pictures you sent mom. thank you so much. those were the best. i meant to send some today but forgot my camera cable. im really glad to hear grandmas surgery went well. we had interviews with president this week. one of the things he asked was what kind of missionary i want to be and promised me that if i continue to work diligently that ill become that missionary by the end of the transfer. i thought that was an awesome promise. so im really excited to keep working hard and work on becoming a better servant of the lord. anyways thats about all i can think of that happened this week. good luck at college g. let me know how it is. love you all!
elder berry

Transfer to Cuyahoga Falls

2010-06-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! alots happened in the past week. ill start by finishing up what happened in lisbon. we set a baptismal date with heather and with brittnay. they were awesome. brittnay took work off on sundays and came just yesterday. i really miss teaching her and andrew. i miss e johnson too but my new comp is awesome. hes e wright from genola ut. were on bikes all the time here so im getting used to that. theres tons of hills and im still getting in shape. e koford actually got transfered too and were still in the same district and even go to church together which is awesome. its fun having four missionaries at church. e malbica is his companion. this week here in c falls has been awesome though. on thurs we took rachel, an investigator, to kirtland. that was amazing. i love it there. then on sat she was baptized. her dad brought her a bunch of anti right before but she was still couragous and knew it was true and got baptized. the spirit was so strong. her mom came and felt the spirit and now were teaching her this week. the ward here is awesome and on top of that feeds us every night. on sat we had mission conference too. elder foster of the seventy came and spoke to us. hes the one that talked bout the calves and the mothers getting them back to the barn in conference last time. hes an awesome guy. sis sorensen and e fosters wife came and inspected our apartment on sat too. they were very impressed with how clean it was. you would be proud mom. and they liked my hank flag too haha. whats garretts email? ill email him my letters while hes at school. unless youll just forward tehm to him mom. but things are going well here. i like this area. its alot different from anywhere else ive been. its actually a city not just out in the country somewhere. and theres some decent houses and stuff. its weird to be back in an area like that. glad to hear grandmas out of the hospital. hope you recover well. i love you. good luck at school g. im excited for you. write me your address as soon as you know it. love you all. give hank the lovins for me
elder berry

Lisbon Transfer Three Week Five

2010-06-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

hey everyone!!! this week has been incredible!!! the best ...until i found out im leaving last night. im really sad bout that. i love this area and elder johnson and am really sad to see it go. i hope ill be close enough to come back at some point during my mission. anyways. we have seen so many miracles this week. elder johnson and i have really had our prayers answered. lets see i dont even know where to start. in the beginning of the week we got a call from an inactive member of the ward who is engaged to a non member and she wanted to take the lessons so we set up a time and went over there. her name is brittnay. the lesson went amazing! one of the best ones ever. she loved it and could feel the spirit. you could see in her eyes the excitement that she had to learn about the gospel of jesus christ. then on sunday she was working but andrew (her fiance) came to church and even bore his testimony! it was awesome. they are fun people too so its awesome to be teaching them. we are going to set a baptismal date with her tonight too so were excited. i wish i could be staying to continue teaching her. we also have seen heather a couple times this week and recommitted her to baptism on aug 28th. she is really set about making it this time. the new way we have been taught to commit people to baptism has helped so much and helps us to resolve their concerns and help them understand how they need it and want it. we had another amazing lesson this week with a part member family the pragers. she just started coming back to church and her husband started out not having anything to do with us. when we came over he would go in the other room and slowly started talkin to us and stuff. well last time we went over there we taught a quick lesson about joseph smith and prayer and invited him to pray before we left. he didnt want to at first but we helped him understand that he could and kinda helped him want to and he finally said the prayer. it was the first prayer that he had ever said in his life. it was pretty good too. the spirit was so strong and his wife was crying and just really happy and excited. the next day at church everyone was like "hear you had an awesome lesson with the pragers!" and it was weird cuz we had no idea how they knew but turns out she posted somethin on facebook so that was kinda funny. it helped the ward kinda be excited bout missionary work. hopefully it sticks. also at church on sunday two random people walked in for sacrament. so we wanted to talk to them but they left before we could get over there after the meeting so we kinda ran outside as they were getting in the car and knocked on the car door to talk to em lol. turns out they work with a really less active lady and wanted to see what the church was all about. so that was cool. wish they woulda stayed but it was still awesome. then on monday we were walking down the street and talked to this guy bout nineteen years old and he had taken the lessons before from missionaries and was really excited to see us and remembers alot of it and really wanted us to come over and teach him and to come to church which is sweet! you never run into someone like that. so we talked to him for a while and e johnson and the new guy will be teaching him. im really sad to see this area go but ill like the next one too im sure. i know the lord hears and answers prayers. ill let you know where im at next week. love you all!
elder berry

Lisbon Transfer Three Week Four

2010-06-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

aloha everybody! this week has been fun but at the same time not very eventful. elder johnson and i still get along great and ive learned so much from him. hes an awesome missionary. cant believe its june already! it goes fast. congrats on getting your surgery moved up grandma. im praying for you and grandpa. so last pday was really fun. our district went to the browns house and helped them finish up the zipline. its four hundred and fifty feet long so its way fun. and theyre the ones with rope swings and stuff too but this time we brought airsoft guns and had a big airsoft war in the forest which was awesome! then i brought my guitar and we built a fire and made smores while e koford and i took turns playin. it was alot of fun. and yesterday for memorial day a family invited us over for a cookout and we learned how to play cornhole. its a game with a board on the ground and has a hole in it and you have to throw a bean bag type thing full of corn into the hole or on the board to score. kinda like horse shoes. it was actually pretty fun. ive never seen it played sober before haha. we also had zone conference this week. it was really good. every time i hear from president sorensen i like him more and more. we are focusing as a mission to double convert baptisms. its a stretch and weve been learning alot about setting baptismal dates and so far the baptism dates have sky rocketed. e johnson and i want so badly to set some baptismal dates and use the new committment patterns that we have been taught but just cant find anyone to teach. i feel like this area is right on the edge and has so much potential we just have to give it a little push. we are workin crazy hard to find people without much success yet but this week have been workin on new and better ways to approach and teach people so im excited to start workin with those and see how well they work. so its really exciting but at the same time makes for some long days when you work all day and still cant teach anyone. were just looking forward to find somebody who is really prepared and ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ. sometimes just takes time to find them i guess. next week is transfers so i wont email until tues again. chances are pretty good im leaving cuz in my last interview with president he told me that change would be good for me so well see. anyways i think thats bout all thats been going on. like i said fun but not too eventful. i really love studying from the scriptures though. i look forward to morning studies and nighttime when i have a little time to study them. they are such a blessing in my life and i know they have brought me closer to my Savior. it amazes me how many people lost their lives so that we could have the scriptures that we do. anyways i love you all. thank you so much for your letters. have a good week!
elder berry

Lisbon Transfer Three Week Three

2010-05-24T09:07:00.001-07:00

aloha! i cant believe its already halfway through this transfer. time flies. hope youre all doing well and i absolutely love hearing from you all. thank you so much for your letters. sorry im not the best at writting back but im tryin to work on it. i love you all. so in all honesty this week has been rough. weve been trying and trying to get ahold of the tomors with no success and they didnt come to church so we had one of the members call yesterday and they no longer want to come to church or have us over. so its been kinda sad. i loved them and had seen the change that the gospel has made in their lives and its hard to see them turn away from it. i just hope and pray that someday theyll remember the spirit they felt and have the desire to talk to missionaries again. we arent exactly sure why they made this decision but i know that they all had such strong testimonies and were so excited to be baptized. her family was really against them taking the lessons and going to church so maybe they gave them some really bad anti or something. it doesnt matter really just sad to see them turn away from the blessings and knowledge that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. other than that not alot has been going on. we have zone conference coming up this wed so thatll be fun. but as for now were just workin really hard to find people to teach because we have no solid investigators. its given us alot of time to work on teaching on doorsteps though which has helped but not much ever comes from it. im just glad to have an awesome companion and that the weathers pretty nice. anyways i love you all. have a good week.
elder berry

Lisbon Transfer Three Week Two

2010-05-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! this week has been pretty good but at the same time pretty uneventful. on wed we had interviews with president sorenson which was awesome. i really got to sit down and talk with him for a little bit and i love him. hes great. we had zone development meeting this week as well up in youngstown. we have to go back up there today cuz i have to take a driving test and were going on exchanges with the zone leaders so ill be up there till wed. we have a little tiwi in our car which is like a gps that rates your driving too and ours is broken and says that im always speeding so the church gets a report that im a bad driver so i have to take some sort of written test today and they say if i dont do better (which i cant) that theyll suspend my liscense for a transfer which would stink cuz e johnson cant drive either (cuz he got in an accident a couple months ago) so we would be walking haha. and our area is way to big to walk places. so were tryin to explain to them the tiwi is broken so well see how it ends up. the tomors are going excellent. we only got to teach them once this week though cuz we really struggle to get members out with us and we cant teach them alone so we had to reschedule twice and then they had to reschedule. i feel really bad when we have to reschedule cuz members arent willing to help. please help the missionaries back there. but theyre doing great. sarah is even starting to be excited about church and learning alot now. really soakin it up which is good cuz before shes just kinda been there but not payin attention or easily distracted. so hopefully we can point her towards baptism soon too. it would be sweet if they all could be baptized the same day but well see if that can happen. other than that we really dont have any other investigators. were just tryin to find people and help less actives get back to church. im still likin elder johnson and this area. its just waiting to explode. theres alot of stuff just sittin on the edge kinda and were tryin to get it movin. but thats bout all thats happened this week. thank you so much for all your letters. i love you
elder berry