Berry, Benjamin T

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...

Anywho, sorry if this email isn't my best work. This week was good down here in Exeter! This week was fun because we talked to lots of people! However, it's so hard for some reason to find people to teach. People will talk to us and stuff but aren't interested in anything to do with the gospel. But we've had lots of success with members and less actives. We went up to Three Rivers in the mountains to clip some goat hooves for a lady we've been teaching, and it was fun! I would grab and wrangle the goat between my legs while the lady, Ashni, clipped the hooves. It was fun until the goat got bored, looked up at you with a blank stare, and tried munching on your shirt. Later, we helped with the chickens, and I got pooped on, of course. I remember when I was younger in school, we went on a field trip to the OKC zoo and had a "zoo snooze." We stayed overnight, and it was hype! Anyways, I remember going into the bird enclosure and getting pooped on by some parro...

Anyways, this week felt long. I feel like the first week of a transfer always feels long, but it was good to say the least. I'm companions with Elder Kesler, and it's awesome! He is such a charitable missionary, and I really admire his desire to do work and help others feel the love of the Savior. He does absolutely nothing to take away from the Spirit. I will say, because his legs are long, it's very easy to kick a rock between his legs as we walk. This area is good, and the members are starting to like me, hopefully. I think sometimes they can't tell I'm joking because I joke around all the time. Personally, I think they just see me as competition. I was having a rough day the other day, thinking, "Hm, this area is difficult, and we're really struggling to find prepared people here." Then later that night, on a Zoom meeting, President shared the classic Ether 12:6: "6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show...

Hey everyone, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I apologize for not sending an email last week, but here I am. These past few weeks have just been different than the rest of my mission (in a good way). I've been out for about 9 months now! I'm halfway done with a sister mission! Jkjk This Christmas season has been quite remarkable, and I can't remember a time in my life so focused on Jesus Christ, especially on His humble birth. I feel the Spirit every time I read and ponder on His beloved coming into this world. On Christmas, we actually didn't have any plans besides some that morning, so we got with other elders and went caroling for about 4 hours and saw tons and tons of members and friends. Everyone answered the door except one. It's funny because we sang the same song, "Silent Night," each time. We got Burger King too, and it was lit. We got transfer news, and I'm staying in Exeter, CA. Elder Quigley is leaving, and I'll be with Elder Kes...

It's ya boy Chips Ahoy, and I wish y'all a Merry Christmas! I hope everyone's been doing well and you're finding a way this year to make Christmas centered on Jesus Christ. This week has been very good! We've had lots of service opportunities! We got to help a member paint his house as well as set up some stuff in a lash studio. This week we had a zone conference completely centered on Jesus Christ. It was really nice getting to hear people's testimonies and their favorite stories of Jesus Christ. I liked this zone conference, and personally, I'm not the biggest fan of zone conferences. I feel like it's a long time to sit. Speaking of a long time to sit, apparently, I've never realized how much I fidget when I sit, and let's just say my companion is not a big fan of that during personal study. We watched this video called "The Christ Child," which is a really good depiction of the nativity and birth of Jesus Christ. I really felt the Sp...

Hey, it's been a little bit, but I'm doing well! Missions are not easy, but at least I knew that coming into this. It's just a different kind of hard, a different kind of challenge. I had my birthday, and I'm 20 now. Like, what the heck. I actually had a good birthday! It started off great with my companion secretly waking up at 4 a.m. and blowing up a bunch of balloons so when I woke up, I'd see them! It made my day. Also, my dad would probably like some recognition that he was the FIRST (I think) to text me on my birthday, haha. My brother Conner had incredible charm on my birthday and somehow got married to this super cool chick named Morgan. She's sweet and very kind. I gotta be honest, when I first found out they were going to get married on my birthday, I didn't know what to think, but I'm low-key cool with it and honestly just so happy for them. They'll probably get me cool gifts for my birthday too. I'm not a homesick person, but if there...

Howdy my beloved and faithful family and friends! To be honest, this week felt so long and short at the same time. I'm thankful for Thanksgiving and all the good people and food. I had some Costco pumpkin spice cheesecake and it was SO good. One thing that I enjoyed doing was focusing my prayers on things I'm grateful for. Some prayers I would just say things I'm purely thankful for. The Lord has blessed us with so much, so by showing we're grateful for the things He's already blessed us with, we're more humble and receptive to His will and blessings He yet has in store for us. I invite you to say a gratitude prayer this week. It feels like the festive attitude is out! Now the whole debate on when the Christmas season ACTUALLY starts is over and hopefully everyone at this point can agree now. Let me know when y'all think it's appropriate to set the Christmas tree up! It's a different kind of missionary work at this time of year. My companion kept get...