Berry, Benjamin T

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 strai...

Yo, it's your boy Chips Ahoy. It's finally getting cooler up here in California. It was fun to see all the election stuff, haha. This week was one of the better weeks in the mission (every week is usually pretty great). So, how about I talk about it? It was nice getting opportunities to do some service for some people. I dug this hole for over an hour to plant a tree. That dirt was so darn tough I had to use a dig bar every single inch I dug to break up the dirt. It felt so invigorating though! The tree we planted already looked half dead, so we'll see if it survives and I didn't dig a hole for nothing. I want to know how people (probably kids) think you can dig a hole to China. Why is it always China? We also helped another lady pull up tons of weeds out of her garden, and Elder Pancheri kept chucking oranges and lemons at me! It felt good, though it sucks to see that the washer didn't wash all the dirt out of my jeans later that week. We also were driving during a...

Yo, how's it going? It's been a minute since I emailed. I've been doing great here in Sanger! I was originally in a trio, but then the third (Elder Kennington) left for the Saratoga Springs, Utah mission! So now it's just me and Elder Pancheri. We have a great time out here, and the companionship unity is on point, even though he's in his training. We did a deep clean on our apartment and threw away four or five trash bags full of junk. We vacuumed everything, swept, mopped—the whole ordeal. My mom wouldn't believe how clean we got it. I was notorious back at home for halfway doing everything, if you even want to call it that. I would just put my clothes under my blanket on my bed and call the room "clean." Or just chuck my shoes in my closet or stuff things into my drawers. My mom always didn't like how I left my drawers out (I still do it sometimes out here). Speaking of cleanliness, we have this thing in our mission where if you keep your car su...

Now you're probably wondering, why did Elder Berry say, "Now you're probably wondering." Now I bet you're really wondering. Anyhow, this week was hard but good! Bruh, there are so many stray dogs here it makes me mad. I just bend over and act like I pick up a rock or something and pretend to throw it at them, and they scurry off. I think it's from the chancla abuse around here. I also got an acoustic guitar now, so that's awesome. I've always wanted to learn and play guitar, so I have fun practicing and stuff. I got it for free-99 as well. We had a really good last week and set up lots of lessons and met some pretty promising people. Unfortunately, most of them canceled, which sucked, but that's okay. I feel like my faith is growing, but my patience was not very good this week. I gotta trust more in the Lord and His peculiar ways of doing things. Maybe He thinks we're the weird ones. We met some very kind people throughout the week and have bee...

What's up! It's a pleasure to be back on gmail.com to talk to you all. I hope your weeks were good. I'm enjoying Sanger, California! I'm in a trio! Trios are so fun. It's a hoot up in here. I'm training again! I got such a good trainee! I'm also with another missionary whom I'm "greenie breaking," which means they just got out of training. I'm a pretty immature fella, so I should not be the one impressing on the easily impressionable. But here we are. I enjoy each and every day here. The members here in Sanger are awesome! They have a lot of Hispanic members, so we get lots of Mexican food! I think I love tacos now. My first night, I almost had a heart attack as we were walking down a dark street when a big dog charged us out of nowhere, and I thought I was going to get bit good. Luckily, it stopped and backed off at the last minute. My adrenaline shot so high, it couldn't have been healthy. It's always a good day in California when...

I've been in Madera, California, for a quarter of my mission. I'm so absolutely grateful for all of the people that I've been able to meet and grow close relationships with. But like all good things, they must come to an end. I'll be leaving for Sanger, California, and will be in a trio! I will be training again! I think I might be finishing someone else's training and getting another brand-new missionary. I'll tell you more about my companions in my next email. I'm not going to lie... I feel inadequate to train haha. I feel like I didn't do very well training these past two transfers. I tend to be prideful and only like things my way, and if they're not my way, it's not as cool or efficient. But that's not how it works with companions. You have to work with them, or the work will NOT be efficient. Nevertheless, I'm excited to learn to lean more on my Savior and my companions and learn to be more humble and trusting. I've had the chan...

The eggs have hatched, egg-breaking animation with a glorious man with a nametag emerging, Elder Berry is here. Sorry, gotta captivate the reader somehow. I'm doing better than I deserve here in Madera. This week was amazing! We went to the temple with Victor, and I got to see my trainer, Elder Lovejoy! I hadn't seen him for so long. Truly a lifelong friend. The temple was nice and peaceful. Victor really enjoyed doing baptisms, and we ate In-N-Out burgers after. The burger was buss. I gotta learn to eat slower so I'm not just watching people eat. We have been teaching quite a few people, and it's been amazing to see the Spirit soften the hearts of all those in the room, including mine. I often am quite swift in pride because I "think" I've figured out how to be a good missionary, and the Lord never disappoints and always helps me be humble. I can't recall too much of what happened this week, but it definitely had its ups and downs. Tomorrow will be my...