Berry, Benjamin T

This week was good. We had a lot of opposition, also known as the sun. Speaking of the sun, we talked to this dude, and he was just sitting outside of these apartments staring at the sun. He told us that we need to stare at the sun too, so we tried and went blind for a second. He told us that the "elites" control the world and that we were being controlled by the elites. We told him about the Book of Mormon, and he kind of clowned on us and said, "Okay, I'm going to ask Chat GPT about the Book of Mormon." We told him that Chat GPT is run by the elites, and his eyes got really big! We should have messed with him more; he was a little punk. Anyways, he winked at us and handed us back the Book of Mormon. It's times like these where I'm like, "I love Fresno." I would never have experienced this kind of stuff if I never came out here. Also, Deborah got baptized this week! She is literally a dawg! She was so awesome to teach and has an awesome testim...

This week was pretty awesome. We have been finding and teaching with the youth almost every day for the past two weeks. Most of them have their mission calls and are getting some really awesome spiritual experiences with us. We were finding in these apts with Landon and knocked on one door and got kicked out :( BUT that's not the end of the story... As soon as we got kicked out, we saw this lady walking her dogs (which attempted to bite me... it's normal), and we talked to her. Her name was Ariel and she was SUPER receptive, and we started teaching her. Anyways, we find out she's best friends with a less active recent convert, and they both came to church and now Ariel is going to get baptized. We had zone conference and it was awesome. Our president is awesome. He's so good at putting a smile on anyone's face—something I admire a lot. It's really easy to feel the Spirit when there is joy all over your face. Surround yourself with people who help you feel the Sp...

This week was good. Not going to lie, it's sometimes hard to remember everything... so everything becomes nothing. Right now the work has been good but with lots of rejection. I think the heat really gets to people (including me). The APs said me and Elder Stone can't wear our fat ties anymore, so it's a little harder to start fun convos with people. Fun fact: we had these fat ties that were called the "belly warmers" and are as wide as a Book of Mormon. A miracle we had is we spent all day praying to find a part-member family as we decided to do like 20 really well-planned stop-bys, and we were unsuccessful (in the part-member aspect), but found 3 less-actives who want to come back. Anyways, it's 8:45 p.m. at night and we're about to head home and a young couple walks past us, and I say hi and try to share a message and they said "maybe later." I stood there and I'm like, "I won't be here later :(". They kept walking... then p...

Hey, it's been a minute. K, I got transfer news. I'm staying another in the YSA and Van Ness here in Fresno. We had a very surprising baptism. This guy, his name is Preston, and we found him while walking the streets. I knew he was a funny fella when he read my name tag and called me Dingle Berry the first time he met me lol. He was interesting to teach because he kept all commitments but showed little fruits of repentance until towards the end. He got fellowshipped really well by a few members of the ward too. I'm excited to stay another one, it'll be my longest area since Madera. Madera was the glory days. By the way, my old comp/trainer (Elder Lovejoy) graduated basic and I'm so proud of him. This week was mentally hard for me, which is always hard to admit because no one likes admitting they struggled in some sort of mental way. The work was really good, but I kept finding myself comparing myself with others or being self-conscious. I was frustrated because from...

So this week has been quick. We had a good week with TONS of success. I'm starting to really like this Elder Stone. He's a bit intense and likes to ram things with his head, but other than that, he's a pretty normal missionary. We had tons of friends at church, and it's so fun to talk to people there! Church as a missionary can be stressful, but I've learned to soak up that short 7 minutes of the sacrament. Most peaceful time of the week for me. Even when I sleep at night, I'm teaching people in my dreams. Sunday, we have this "new and returning member class," and it's taught by the older people in the ward. And boy, they just go way out into left field on simple gospel doctrine. Next thing we know, our Ward Mission Leader is telling how he put consecrated oil on his truck and blessed it, and his truck started. Or another dude would chime in that he had something similar happen. The class is supposed to be on "simple" gospel doctrine, but...

Hey, okay, brief one today. So transfers happened and I'm still in Fresno YSA and Van Ness. This area is goated btw. My new comp is Elder Stone from Midway, Utah. He's a funny dude and a great missionary. We're doing great and accomplishing great things right now, with the help of the Lord. Anyways, we've seen lots of miracles in the work lately. We met a super awesome referral who is progressing well named Deborah. Also, the other day this guy was going like 30 mph on a scooter and kept running red lights and was INCHES away from getting smacked. He definitely stole something. Either that, or he's got a girl he's going to see. She's not that petty to risk your life for, man. Wrestling a 6ft 10 AP is fun too. You just go for the legs. He did get me in a good chokehold the other day. Campus is shutting down so YSA is slowing down a bit, but we're finding lots of people through members. We steal the food from the activities too. They weren't too happy ...

Hey everyone! I'm glad to be here! It's been a long little while. These 2 weeks have flown by. Sorry I've been less consistent with writing these! My comp, Elder Bennett, got his flight itinerary and it turns out he's going out May 7th instead of May 19th! So that's a little surprising. I've never sent an Elder home, but keeping the trunk out of them is a challenging task. Luckily, it hasn't been too bad for him. We've had some great things pick up again since school is back from spring break, though we lost most of our friends throughout the break. Anyways, family work has been popping off and we put our friend Malcom on bap date! He is super kind and prepared. He started tearing up about being baptized and learning the fullness of the gospel! We have a lesson with him later today too! We got a lot of online referrals this week and bruh, like they're so weird sometimes. We'll call them and their name will be "Rachael" and a Mexican man...

I'm repenting of not writing an email and I'm sorry. But I'm back at it. Anyways, things have been good. I think. I can't remember too far, not gonna lie. We've been finding plenty of people to teach and we're just trying to find people who are prepared now. My comp, Elder Bennett, is going home at the end of this transfer, so I'm trying to stop the trunky from getting him. It actually hasn't been too bad. He's from Wakko, Texas, BTW. My comp is a pretty funny guy and always tries to make me laugh during prayers in front of people. Conference was good. I came out of conference with a lot more questions than I went in with. It's honestly spiritually overwhelming to me. I feel like I've been doing pretty good spiritually. I feel like my missionary skills have grown a lot. I do feel like I'm still, as usual, pretty hard on myself. But I've found so much love and grace through Christ as I try to see myself as He sees me. Right now, I'...

Yeah you heard it right. I'm almost at a year! Wow, it feels so long and short. So many memes missed, but so many lives changed. So much hunting missed, but so many blessings in store. I miss my iPhone and family, but I was missing Jesus back then too. The sacrifice has been such a worthy investment so far! I feel like I've found so much fulfillment in my mission in just one year. I'm so happy to have another 365 days of this. It's kind of hard to sum it up into words and make it not sound cliché. I still have a lot of room for growth, but that's okay. My week was pretty good this week. We got our friend Aaron on date for baptism! It was so hype. YSA this week was pretty fun. The vibe on campus was weird though. There was a lot of public preaching (there's nothing wrong with that), just an environment I wasn't used to. It's so weird being a missionary around people your age. I don't know why they sent me here, I have way too much rizz. Other than tha...

This week has been awesome and also a huge adjustment. I feel like I'm still trying to lock myself in. But this week was so fun and busy. My companion and I get along well, and he's just another version of me. We think the same things—it's sometimes scary. We've been having so many good contacts with people, and there are so many people interested in the gospel here. We had a lesson with our friend Kholin with a member who joined us named Abby. We taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit was so strong. After the lesson, he told us that running into us was part of God's plan for him. The day we originally ran into him was a rainy day, but surprisingly, a lot of people were willing to talk to us in the rain that day. I think my teaching skills have gotten a lot better here, and I'm really learning how to apply the gospel to myself and others even more. The YSA ward is really fun, but going Sunday was a little overwhelming because there ...

So, the other night, President texted me at 9 p.m. and asked me if I could call. I started flippin’ out because I had no clue what he was talking about. Anyways, he asked me if I'd pack my bags and get Emergency Transferred the next morning. So I did, and boy, I packed my bags as quickly as I could and met up with an AP and the missionary I was switching with. So, I'm in Fresno on the Fresno State campus and also a family ward. I was a little disappointed I left my area in Exeter without saying much goodbye, but the mission is so full of change all the time. I will miss Elder Kesler. My new companion is an elder named Elder Bennet, and he's been out about 21 months. He's so funny. YSA campus finding was terrifying at first. I didn't want to talk to people my age. Old people are way better. Anyways, it ended up being really fun. And the rejection is kind of humorous. It's like breaking the NPC normal. But yeah, it's so fun, and the YSA activities are great! I...

So this week was greatish. I was sick last week, so that's why I didn't send an email. It was torture. It just lingered with me. My problem is, anytime someone tries to guess where I'm from, they always say I look like I'm from Utah. Like seriously? Do I LOOK like I'm from Utah? Don't answer that. People from Oklahoma are just the best. People treat me like a stray dog and they're always like, "you poor soul...almost dying to tornadoes," and I'm always like, "bruh it's not like that." I do miss the thunderstorms though. The weather here is either foggy or flipping a million degrees. Anyways, yeah I just bummed for a bit as my companion soloed all the service we signed up for the previous week. Shout-out to my comp Elder Kesler. We've been doing a lot of apartment finding/tracting, because it's the most effective and it's been fun to meet some pretty great people. We met two guys named JEFF back to back!! One was a past...

Well, everyone, I'm going home. Joking, I'm still out here—mwahaha. We got transfer news, and I'm staying here for another round in Exeter, and I'm excited for another transfer. We're mega working with inactives and part members right now, and it's popping off. Plus, my sweetie Elder Kesler is still with me, and he's a breeze to work with. My mission father, Elder Lovejoy, is going home, and my heart aches at his departure. He's waxed strong in his wisdom and age and will truly be remembered in the corner of my heart. RIP, my brother—I hope you can find a valentine. I always struggle to write these emails because I'm not sure what to say and how much detail y'all want to know about the work here. So I just usually tend to write my life's story. There are two things I've been focusing on: God's will and prayer. I think God's will is one of the hardest and most rewarding things ever. But it's so hard—1. To seek His will, and 2. ...

This week was a blur, and sometimes it do be like that. We had lots of success working with members because that's been a struggle in this ward a little bit. It's kind of the saying when 20% of the people do 80% of the work and vice versa. We're trying to get more members involved, and boy, it's hard to invigorate them with some drive for missionary work! But we've really been pushing it, and the stake presidency has been backing us in our efforts, and it's slowly but surely getting better. Nevertheless, waffles. I love waffles and pancakes. I think waffles are better because the texture is way better, and when I put the peanut butter, it fits in the little squares. We had a waffle social activity on Fast Sunday, and boy, the waffles were good. I accidentally got some Tajín on my waffles. It was good to see some members there that don't always come to the social activities. We were on our way to dinner when this Dodge Dakota pulled up speedily next to us and...

What's up? It's ya boy Chips Ahoy! Anyways, not quite sure what to write this week, but I'm glad I still have my fingers to write with. These past weeks have been good, and we saw some success in the work. This area is pretty hard, but the members are goated, and it's cool to see some of our labors come to fruition. I went on exchange and got invited into this house, and they had a whole mariachi band in there. I got to play the drums for them, and they were impressed and accepted me into their band. Unfortunately, half of them were drunk, so I don't know if I'll stay in the band. We were able to have lots of people come to church this week, and it was awesome! We've been doing a lot of inactive work and were able to bring someone back to church who had not been in almost 30 years! We also found new people to teach this week, which was a great hope because that's been a struggle in this area. We also did some service for a lady who had left the church, w...