I'm Not A Sanger Cowboy No More

Okay, transfer news. Sorry I didn't write an email last week. Anyways, yes, I still love y'all and appreciate it so much when y'all write me. I do read them!

I typed up an email last week but never sent it, and I'm not gonna send both because that's too much to read!

I'm heartbroken to leave Sanger because I really liked it there, and we revived the area with the help of the Lord. Nevertheless, it's in good hands with my trusted Trainee Elder Pancheri. We were sad to leave each other but knew we'd see each other again.

I am in Exeter, CA now, in a smaller ward with mostly older people. My companion's name is Elder Quigley, and I'm finishing off his training. He's a jolly fella and has a kind heart. He's from Santaquin, Utah!

In this area, I feel so strengthened by the Lord, and I am so thankful. Days have been really rough on paper, but they haven't felt as rough as they ought to have felt. Like, we'll go a whole day getting straight rejected, and I feel my testimony grow more and the truth of my message grow more. This area feels like it's a little more ripe with iniquity, but more the reason we need to be here. There are so many red dots, haha (red dots are like people's houses that you do NOT want to go to).

Okay, I need to rant about one thing. Bashing missionaries! Yes, I get it if you don't agree with our message or what we do, but please... stop being so rude and interrupting. Like, I know people can have different views, but why do people have to be so mean? Let me talk. Maybe I just have a problem with people interrupting me. I don't know why it ticks me off, haha. Like, I'll be mad for hours because I kept getting interrupted. My mom or brothers always said, "Yep, Ben, you always have to get the last word!" (This was usually when I was being a bad child, and I'd always end with a nasty, mean comment in an argument). Maybe that's why it makes me mad, because as a missionary, I can't always get the last word, because of who I'm representing: the Lord Jesus Christ.

One huge blessing is the ward here feeds us so well. I'm not gonna lie, maybe the best ribs of my life are here. We have so many leftovers; it's such a huge blessing. I met a guy here who said he'd been to Ada and ate at Pigskins while they traveled through!

I just want to testify that I know the Book of Mormon is true. It plainly teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I've been reading it this time through, I've been using a highlighting scheme to color it for the gospel of Jesus Christ. One thing that I've loved that I've read is in 2 Nephi 31, talking about Jesus Christ's baptism.

7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding, he being holy, showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh, he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. 8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water, the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. 9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path and the narrowness of the gate by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. 10 And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? 11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

Jesus Christ was the best soul to ever walk the dust of this Earth. Yet, he, being holy, was baptized to show himself as an example to all men, that they should follow him and be obedient unto the Father. As a missionary, I'm not asking a single person to be baptized. The Lord is asking them. Ever since I've started looking at it that way, it's taken the worry, the burden, and the task of asking someone to be baptized away. Of course, it's not an easy thing to be baptized and make a covenant with the Father, but we do it because it's the most intelligent thing we can do, and not something we just have to do. We are obedient to the Father because we love him, and surrendering yourself to Him is the only way to win. When we win on our own, the Father and us both lose.

Anyways, I love y'all so much, and I'm thankful for your support, and I pray and strive to serve for Him.

Love, Elder Berry
1814 N Echo Ave
Fresno, CA
93704





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