CHEERFULLY DO EVERYTHING

We were on a conference call with the mission president Saturday with the rest of our zone. Elder Holm told us we should cheerfully do everything so we did that very day. We drove to Akin, South Carolina for a reenactment of the Civil War and we did it cheerfully. Akin is a small town east of Augusta and every year they have a reenactment of the Battle of Akin. Everyone who participates wear costumes and live in tents of that time period. People come from all over to participate and watch. We have a family in our ward (recent converts) who participates. The day was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.

Friday was a rainy cloudy day. Around noon a big storm came through and blew over some trees. A tree in our neighborhood blew over on some power lines and we were without electricity for about twelve hours. We with one set of the Elders were visiting a new contact when the storm hit so we were safe and just got a big rain where we were. The other set of Elders was in the worse part of the storm but had just gone in their contacts house when the storm hit. When we returned home about 8pm the power was off in our house and the Elders so Elder Berry and I went to Walmart and bought some lamps for them and us. The Elders were just returning home when we drove up with their light. Good timing.

This past week we experienced a wonderful miracle. The Lord truly answered many prayers. We are so thankful for people who live in other areas of the country who helped us with advice, it was followed and that assisted in our miracle. The bishop in Colorado visited our ward member in jail and attended court with him and witnessed the miracle and went the extra mile and made sure the ward member returned to Georgia to his family. The way members of the church work together all over the world isn't a miracle but the work they do and service they give creates miracles plus lots of faith and prayers. Thanks to everyone for the cheerful manner in which you helped.

As we serve here in Georgia we see many miracles. President Holmes tells us that obedience brings blessings and complete obedience brings miracles. We encourage the recent converts to experiment with this promise by attending Sacrament meetings ever Sunday and staying the entire three hours. Today was a disappointment as some of the families weren't there. Friday we visited with a beautiful young family. We baked cookies together and gave them a lesson. The whole family just drank in the message we gave. They are children in the gospel and they need to bring their children to church and learn and grow together. Friday night when we left their home we were sure they would be at church today. Today we were sad because they weren't at church to claim their blessings. We will cheerfully keep going back because we love them and they love us and they need to hear our messages. Each Sunday is a challenge and it takes great skill and lots of work getting investigators and recent converts to church. Some come because they desire to come others because someone knocked on their door and woke them up. We and the Elders look forward to Sunday night to get together, have dinner, and discuss the events of the day. Tonight Elder Berry reminded us that while the things we do all day are good we need to remember when we walk in the chapel why we are at church.
We are cheerfully looking forward to a new week and its challenges. Thursday will be zone conference with the mission president. We also have some discussions with the Elders. This is the Lord's church and this is His work and we are grateful to be a part of it.

Love, Elder and Sister Berry

HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF

Our most recent contacts
Aiken, South Carolina

Valentine cookies to be delivered

Delivering Valentine cookies

A day in the car without going a mile.

Our little car buddy.

At each transfer the Elders returning home have an opportunity to bear their testimony. All the testimonies are so strong and emotional. This moth at transfers one testimony really made an impression on me. The young Elder made this remark in his testimony "have faith in yourself" and this just hit me so hard because it is so true. As Elder Berry and I have been serving we sometimes wonder if what we say or do is effective and we also question our abilities. From this young Elder we learned a great lesson and we are trying harder not to question or doubt but to go forward in faith. President Holms remarks that day were taken from this Elders statement. He told us we all needed more faith and quoted D&C 29:6-7 "--Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive. And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect: for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts." We all need to have more faith in ourselves in everything we do: work, school, sports, family relationships, church callings, etc.
This has been a strange but fun week. Monday and Tuesday we delivered valentine cookies. Tuesday was District Development Meeting at the church with three different districts meeting in separate rooms. After the meeting we all (12 Elders, 2 Sisters, 4 Seniors) went to Hibachi Grill for lunch to celebrate Valentines Day. What fun! Wednesday we took a senior sister who lives in assisted living to the doctor and when we returned her home she needed help with her computer so Lowell helped her out with that. Thursday we took a sister to the emergency room and waited 7 hours for her. While we waited we took care of Tony her three year old who would not get out of our car. The miracle of that day was the seven hours seemed as one. We visited a referral with the Elders. They invited us in, we visited and they returned the Book of Mormon that had been given to them and told us they were happy with their life. Before we left they wanted to know how we felt about Mitt Romney and they had great hopes that he would be elected president. We bore testimony, shook hands told them how happy we were to meet and visit with them and left. Wednesday we took Drew, from Swainsboro, Georgia who lives in a half way house, to lunch, gave him the book Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball, talked about repentance and the things he needs to do to get his life back in harmony with the Gospel, committed him to reading from the Book of Mormon daily, attending church, and told him the van would pick him up for church on Sunday. He assured us he would be ready. Sunday he wore a suit and looked handsome. He met the Bishop and has an interview with him this Wednesday. It seemed most of the people we visited this week weren't home or peeked out their windows but didn't open their doors. The Elders asked us to visit a couple that live together that they are teaching. The man is inactive and the woman is not a member and they also have two children together. The couple says they want to get married so the girl can be baptized but they can't seem to make any progress with them. We made an appointment to visit the couple and when we got there the man left and waited around the corner until we drove away. We didn't stay long because we wanted to talk to both of them. As we drove away the man returned home. Sunday the round up car drove around knocking on doors waking up people and reminding them the van would be by later to pick them up for church. At this trailer the wake up knock got a peek out the window but no response. The van didn't go by.

We took a break Sunday evening and had dinner with my sister Patty. She invited us over for my birthday and cooked us the most delicious dinner and a birthday cake. Her children, their spouses, and grandchildren were all there. Sisters are special!

As we go forward with our missionary service gathering the elect we will strive for greater faith. We will work harder with those who are eager to change their lives, those who don't want to get out of their comfort zones, or those who peek out the window at it that they may be gathered with the elect and except the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that we all will go forward with greater Faith.

Love, Elder and Sister Berry

FROM AUGUSTA WITH LOVE

Mathis children. Tony in yellow shirt is the door locker

Japanese Magnolia in full Bloom. They are beautiful.

Missionaries spreading a little Glue

Town of Harlem

Love is like glue-it holds everything together so we have been all over Augusta spreading glue We have had some good and some sad experiences as we have traveled the city. One family we contacted said they no longer believed in the Book of Mormon, only the Bible. When we drove up to this man's house he saw us coming and came outside and met us and wanted to know how we found him because his family had moved three times since they stopped coming to "your" church. He wasn't very happy to see us and asked us not to contact his family anymore. We talked with him briefly, shook hands and hopefully were able to spread a little glue. We knock on doors, people peep out but never open their door. These people will get letters and hopefully some day we will be able to visit them so we can spread a little glue. One family we visit just love for us to come but we can't get them to Sacrament Meeting very often. It seems someone in the family is always sick or something. This is a beautiful family with children so we visit them once a week and give them a family home evening lesson involving the little children (which they really enjoy). By small and simple things we hope to get them to attend Church regularly by spreading a little glue. The Bishop sent us to see a young man living in a half way house who had been excommunicated from the church who had been referred to us by his Bishop in another town. This young man expressed a desire to get his life in order and start coming to church. We left him with some books and arranged for him to have a ride to church Sunday. Sunday morning he called and wasn't able to make it to church because of a mandatory meeting he had to attend. Yesterday we called and arranged to take him to lunch Wednesday and he seemed eager to meet with us again. Hopefully we'll be able to spread a little glue with this young man as he struggles to get his life in harmony with the Gospel. By last Friday we had spent so much time in our car driving the city of Augusta we decided riding in a car wasn't for us. Friday was spent doing what needed to be done with as little driving as possible and baking heart shaped cookies to deliver on Valentines Day. Saturday was a baptism and all members of a family are now baptised except the baby. What joy to watch as a family is united in love and faith in God
Yesterday as decided to drive to Harlem and deliver some Valentine Cookies to the Sisters there. We hadn't seen them since we dropped them off over a week ago. We decided we need to spread a little glue since they are in a small down away from everyone. They were excited to see us and told us they had been trying to get our phone number because they needed a ride to district development meeting the next day at the ward building in Augusta. We agreed to pick them up because we also go to DDM at the same building. They needed a ride because a round trip in their car would rack up forty miles and they didn't have any extra miles to spare. We will drive eighty miles in order to help the Sisters save forty miles. We love it though.

A little poem by Elder Berry: Love is what makes the Elders go.

Through humid heat or blinding snow.

Love is what helps change behavior.

Blessings are received when we show

Love toward our neighbor and Savior.

Have a Happy Valentines Day and be sure you spread lots of glue.

Love, Elder and Sister Berry

SUNDAY MORNING ROUNDUP

Sister Berry and the trusty old Buick "This is where the rubber meets the road"

Sister Berry with Carol Proctor in front of Columbia Temple

Sisters apartment in Harlem

Sister King and Sister Serafine - headed for Harlem, Georgia

"I can't believe what I'm seeing"

7 new bikes=7 new Elders=0 miles

We have no idea where this bike came from

Wednesday - Transfer day

Welcome to South Carolin

Lots of White Shirts

Elder Boyd - Last hamburger with Augusta Zone - Going home

Elder Caldwell and Elder Muhlestein

Elder and Sister Atkinson

Elder Millward - Last transfer-Going Home

Before we arrived in Augusta there were many baptisms. Many of these converts have become less active. The ward is working hard to reactivate them which is a challenge. The van makes two trips each Sunday morning around the city picking up less active and investigators but return to church with only two or three people each trip. In the past the van was completely full on both trips. New plan-Sunday Morning Roundup-a car would go before the van, the missionaries would jump out, knock on doors, wake people up and tell them the van would pick them up in thirty minutes. Elder Berry was the car driver with two Elders jumping out and knocking on doors and letting people know the van was on the way. The van would follow behind and make the " round-up". It was a good idea but not very successful but we will try it again next week. Each Saturday night we meet with the Elders planning out our pick up route and calling people to remind them the van will pick them up. The ward council has been assigned recent converts, who don't have transportation, to pick up. Even with all the efforts that have been made we haven't been very successful.

After the roundup Sunday Elder Berry and I went to pick up a family that lives near the church. The family is a mother with three small children, 3 and 2 years and 10 months. When we turned the corner a fire truck was parked in front of her house. We parked and rushed to find out what was going on. When the mother stepped out the back door to feed the dog, the three year old boy locked the door and the mother couldn't get back in the house. She knocked on the door but the boys didn't know how to unlock the door or understand what she was saying. She ran next door to the neighbor's house and called the fire department. When we got there the firemen, mother and neighbor were looking in the bedroom window trying to get the two year old boy to unlock the window but he just wasn't strong enough. Finally the firemen had to break the glass on the front door and unlock the door. The ten month old baby was in her bed and out of danger. We stood at the window and entertained the boys while the firemen broke the window but when the boys heard the noise of glass breaking they took off running. Members going to church saw the fire truck and told the Bishopric. Brother Johnson got there right after we got in the house. There was so much going on but he made sure everyone was OK, saw us there and left. We walked in the chapel just as the sacrament song began.

This past week was very busy. Transfer week always is. Monday along with Elder and Sister Atkinson we had our traditional transfer dinner for the zone. We decided to start during the Elders preparation time so it wouldn't take away from their missionary time. We cooked hamburgers and just watched the Elders enjoy visiting together because Wednesday some would be gone and replaced by new Elders. We love all the missionaries, miss those who leave us and love those who come to replace. This was our third transfer since arriving in Augusta and we were thankful that our district remained the same. Wednesday we didn't have to transport any Elders to Columbia but we were asked to pick up two Sisters and drive them to Harlem, Georgia, a small town west of Augusta. The Atkinsons drove up a truck load of Elders and only returned with one. Sisters and Elders don't ride in the same vehicles. So Wednesday we made the trip to Columbia and picked up the Sisters and drove them to their new assignment. They do what is called a "white wash", when two Elders are removed from an area and replaced by two sisters or the other way around. The sisters are in our zone. The Sisters were so excited to be serving together and assigned to Harlem. Transporting Sisters is more fun than the Elders except they have more luggage. We had to put some of their luggage in the Atkinson's truck. The Sisters visited with us while the Elders usually sleep. I thought it would be hard to leave the sisters at the apartment in a strange town to them but it was just natural to hug and be on our way. We know they are under the watchful eye of Heavenly Father and they are doing His work. Our second trip to Columbia was made Friday morning. We picked the zone leaders up in Akin, South Carolina, part of our zone and drove them to a zone leaders conference with the President. We dropped them off and they drove a new car back to the Elders in Aiken. Our zone leaders live in Stevens Creek, Georgia so we asked them if they had been on exchanges the day before with the Akin Elders. They laughed and told us they spent the night there so they could get an extra hour of sleep that morning. They teased and said we could have slept over too and got an extra hour of sleep. The plan was for us to meet the zone leaders in Akin because the "Elders would need their car to drive back to their district after dropping off the new car. Saturday we drove a recent convert, Carol Proctor, to Columbia to visit the temple. We drove around the grounds, took pictures and went in the waiting area. After the temple tour we had lunch and then returned her home. I think she learned much and gained a greater understanding about the purpose of the temples. We never realized before how challenging and different some of our beliefs are until we started serving the less active and fellowshiping the new members. Saturday night is still a party night for many of these people and it's hard for some of the new members and less active to get up on Sunday although our meetings start a 1pm.

We are thankful for our third companion-our trusty old Buick. With the aid of it we spend hours searching, transporting, and "rounding up" the less active and investigators most every day of the week. Even though we run into dead ends, missed turns, turning around, going back, backing up, picking up, dropping off and through it all, the old Buick never complains but goes where we want it to go as long as it gets plenty of gas.

We love serving. We love what we do. Page 270 of the Hymn book expresses how we feel. Elder Berry ask that you hum this hymn during the week.

Love,

Elder and Sister Berry