HAVE A BLESSED DAY

MTC Provo Utah Oct 10, 2011

Our third companion got us here and takes us everywhere.

First Transfer

First District Development Meeting

First transfer dinner with the Atkinsons

Baptism of Cliett family and Terry

South Carolina Temple

Bunny cake for little firends

Sunday dinner, Elders having a little fun

Zone at Columbia, South Carolina

Zone Conference

Transfer Dinner

Transfer day

Zone on the road to Newberry, South Carolina

Transfer Dinner

Ward 24th July Celebration

Gowans replaced the Atkinsons in Grovetown Ward

Elder Walker and Augusta Zone - Newberry South Carolina

Senior Training Meeting and Dinner

Elder Caldwell transferred

Sister Johnson last transfer

Elder Cardon transferred

Since we have reached the half way mark of our service in the Columbia South Carolina Mission we are sharing some pictures of the past nine months.We have put many miles on our car and our bodies but all three are still going strong. Over the past nine months we have met many wonderful people. We have rejoiced with them, cried with them, and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. As we visited the less active and invited them to come back some have answered the call and are struggling to return. Others that we had great hopes for just can't seem to get it together, which causes us great sadness because we can see how their lives would be better and happier if they lived the gospel and applied its teachings in their lives. As long as we are here we will never give up. The Elders and Sisters have come and gone. As mentioned before this is a sad and happy time for us. Sad to see our dear Elders and Sister go because we love them so, but happy to welcome and serve with the Elders and Sisters transferred into Augusta. As you all know we are in the Bible belt. One of the things we really love here is that many people when we leave their home, or finish a conversation with them they will say "have a blessed day".  No matter how they receive us at the door when we leave they will say "have a blessed day." It seems that when our day doesn't go as we plan. all it takes is for someone to share that greeting with us and things get better.

Shortly after we arrived in Augusta the Elders Baptised Karen and a few weeks later baptized her husband Chris. Chris never came back to church after his baptism to get confirmed although we and the Elders have encouraged him to return. Elder Berry and I have visited in their home many times. We accompanied the Elders giving lessons and Elder Berry and I have given home evening lessons to their family and have shared many happy times together. Karen works on Sunday and can't come to church but Elder Berry and I still go to their home. If we can't get them at their home we go to Karen's work and say hello. Chris and Elder Berry have become friends. Although we haven't seen Chris in several months, this week he was having some issues with long term health problems, etc and called Elder Berry. We are thankful for this opportunity to serve him and give him the encouragement he needs. They are a wonderful family and the gospel will bless their lives if they will return and this is our hope. Tuesday we had dinner with a young new couple in our ward. He is military and they just got transferred to Fort Gordon. When I asked her at church if we could come visit them she invited us to dinner, what a surprise and joy. Tuesday we were a few minutes late and the young man was standing outside waiting for us. We had a delicious dinner and got to know this wonderful young couple. They are eager to receive church callings and serve. One of the ladies we visit husband passed away this week.He had cancer and has lived longer than expected. The Elders had great hopes of baptizing him. July 24th he was at church with his wife and finally expressed a desire to be baptized. His wife was thrilled. Since he had been baptized when he was a young man he didn't see the need to be baptized again. He finally had the understanding he needs to be baptized by one having authority and that's what the Elders have and he also said he knows he can live it now. The Elders didn't have the opportunity to baptize him because his health quickly declined. This lady's family aren't members of the church but were very appreciative of all the support she received from the church and the missionaries. Saturday we made many visits to inactive sisters inviting them to church Sunday. Two of those sisters are living with men but not married to them. It saddens our heart because of the example they are setting for their children and blessings they are denying themselves and their families.  

Following is a copy of an article that made the newspaper this week. Two weeks ago the Elders met a nice young man and introduced him to the gospel. They brought him to church for our Book of Mormon class that the missionaries have for investigators, less active and new members., Our hope for this class is to instill in them a love for the Book of Mormon and to obtain a better understanding of the things they read. This young man participated in the lesson and read from the Book of Mormon. After the class the Elders took him on a tour of the building. They had an appointment to return to his apartment and teach him. Before the return appointment the young man read some anti-Mormon material on the computer so the Elders got an angry threatening phone call followed by a text message. The message threatened them and all those who attended the scripture study class. The Elders called the Mission President and he instructed them to call the police. All meetings at the building were cancelled Wednesday and this Sunday both wards that met in our building had priesthood patrolling the parking lot and halls as a precaution. Sunday in our missionary correlation meeting the Bishop counseled all the missionaries to be careful and use caution in some of the areas we go, although we wear a black name tag it isn't bullet proof. What a sobering thought and made us realize how blessed we have been while serving in Augusta. Most places we go the people treat us with great respect, acknowledging us with a nod of the head as we pass on the streets. We have never felt threatened and know that we are watched over as long as we follow the spirit. Saturday as we were out finding people, police cars were all over the neighborhood we needed to be in. We decided that wasn't the place we needed to be so we drove on.

Each day, week and month seem to bring many and varied experiences and we can feel the hand of the Lord as we travel around the city of Augusta. We feel each day is a blessed day. We wish to everyone "A BLESSED DAY!" today and every day.

Love, Elder and Sister Berry

"Nothin could be finer

 than to be in Carolina"  (Mission that is)