Berry, Benjamin T

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. ...