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[S12E5] Mad Dogg’n it

This week has been plenty fun. In way of meetings not so much, but we have been very busy.

4: Last week, Mt. Shasta!! Last week we went down to California and went as far up Mount Shasta as we could. We would have gone up much further, but the state of California demands sacrifice of $25 for a federal park. Oh well, we went up where we could, and took some nice pics.

3: After a long night of less-than-fruitful tracting; Laurie! We had been tracting for quite a while, and no one seemed to be listening, or wanting to listen. Got in an argument with a guy who kept talking about church history, and when we would ask him where he got his information, he would just say “Well, I’m not a historian, but it is common knowledge…” or something dumb like that. Many more encounters like that we had, but we ended the night with meeting Laurie. She is super excited to hear about the gospel, even though she has some conspiracy theories bouncing around. (Did you know that signs in front of a dollar store promoting blood donation means that the big Island of Hawaii is going start a new world war?)

2: Lots of contacting done, and cleaning of area book We have figured out that in the spare time between appointments, we can clean up area book, instead of gunk it up with fruitless tracting! Quite a bit of dropping, re-contacting and teaching has been done this week.

1: D&D is fun, I might get into it when I get back home. Even though what we were playing isn’t actual Dungeons and Dragons, but a very light version of it, we had fun! It all started off with Elder Hoenigman asking Elder Smith; “A bear takes a swing at you in the woods, what do you do?” It has since evolved into saving a city from anarchists, only to get magic-nuked in the end. Very fun, big recommend.

Taking things to a more gospel tone, I have been able to see the hand of the Lord in my work out here, guiding me what to say, study, and search for. Christ will guide you to truth, and never steer you away, but it is up to you if you will let him steer you. I may be the captain of my fate, but Jesus is the master of my soul.

Ya boi,

Elder James Berky

Anthony’s 18th Birthday

[S12E4] Interviews!

I really can’t think of any other title for this email. It’s been a pretty chill week. I’ll try to think of some things worth writing down lol.

4: We really should form a moving company A member was moving into our ward, and so for a couple of days we helped them move their stuff out of 3 storage sheds into their big house. It wasn’t really big, but it had very tall ceilings and all the trimmings of a rich person’s house. But when I got to looking at it, it really wasn’t that big. But hey, we got a KFC and Little Ceaser’s lunch out of it!

3: Interviews went well We also got pizza for interviews! This has sure been a pizza-fueled week, I need to get a couple salad lunches. But yeah, interviews went great, I think I might be leaving Klamath, but I don’t want to jinx anything. Oh, I also had to re-do my temple recommend cause it expired. So I got to hear the new temple recommend questions only a couple weeks after they had been read off the pulpit!

2: Dudngons adn Dgarons lite Yes I am aware of how I spelled that. After the day is over, and we’ve put everything away that needs to be put away, Elder Hoenigman has been DM’ing for us in a very loosey-goosey dungeons and dragons game. We have only 1 dice (12 sided) and it all started off with; “Elder Smith, a bear takes a swing at you in the woods, what do you do?” “He doesn’t try to bite me or anything?””No, be’s boxing you out. What do you do?”

1: heading to mount ShastaWe have enough miles, and hikes are fun. Also we have some people we can visit in the small towns that-a-way.

Ya boi,

Elder James Berky

Scout Lava Tubes Campout

Anthony does a T-pose at the top of a nearby mountain

Anthony, Sam, Ben and Jacob – plus someone else

Jacob and Sam getting ready to hit the hot pools

Guess Jacob just needed to put on his swim cap

Sandy Aquarium

[S12E3] Zone Conference!

Honestly, this week didn’t hold anything too exciting. I may be getting to the point in my mission where this becomes mundane, after all, I have been doing it for ~18 months now. But let’s get into some events.

4: Bible study and Game night We have been meeting with a guy Joel and his theologist friend Ethan lately. They also run a bible study and game night on the campus here. We got invited, and honestly besides the Spirit-less bible study it was fine. I’m really glad that I was blessed enough to have been born into the true church, because all other churches can be proven wrong logically. I think that’s really why we were led there, To see how empty other churches are. Aside from some neat knowledge about history, there was no spirit. They certainly did have plenty of board games however! Aunt Julles you have nothing compared to them! Literally every game I could think of, or have seen in an obscure Eugene Oregon nerd shop, was there. Reminded me of some games that I’m definitely going to pick up when I get back, and have money and space for.

3: Sure, why not go to 2 sacrament meetings? Along with covering the Klamath Falls 3rd ward, Elder Hoenigman, Smith and I also cover the Keno and Yanna Valley branches. After church here in Klamath, we decided to send it the 30 minutes to the Keno branch and grow their Aaronic Preisthood class by 200%. It was cool, we met some cool people, and felt a great spirit there from the people who were so committed to the gospel that they were both the conductor, opening and closing prayer. (Very small branch)

2: Zone Conference Went over great, we had plenty of good segments, plenty of cringey segments, and segments that made me say; “If someone mentions the Hobbit one more time, I WILL consider it cannon” (Also, I am looking for cheap Tolkein books at thrift stores now for my morning studies) But I think the greatest part of Zone Conferences are the opportunity you get to meet the different missionaries that you haven’t seen for several months, catch up and see how each other have grown. It reminds me of the time when the Sons of Mosiah and Ammon meet up again after having completed their missions, and they talk of the success they had among the Lamanites, and how they glory in the Lord. (It’s Alma 25&26)

1: Swedish Meatböl? Because we have been able to pool 3 elder’s grocery budgets together we have been able to make better dinners for ourselves. My personal favorite was our Swedish Meatballs, fried in butter. We felt so bad after eating them, but it hurt so good. I think I have a picture somewhere.

I love the great goodness that the Lord has bestowed upon us. Greatness like Swedish Meatballs, and other such wonders.

Ya Boi,

Elder James Berky

Anthony’s Eagle Project

Mrs. Eckhart (Anthony’s kindergarten teacher – and Ben’s, Sam’s, Jacob’s and Ammon’s kindergarten teacher) – asking her class to help by writing notes to children in Ghana who will be receiving books Anthony is preparing

Aunt Lynette helping with waffles, Sam, mom and Jacob

Bryson, friends, Enzo, Dance family helping with books

Grahams, Anthony, Sam, Tyler wrapping books

[S12E2] Mondays are for the BOYS (also conference)

What did yall think about conference? I thought it was great, even if I fell asleep for one of the talks. President Nelson’s subtle flexing with the church’s charities was my personal favorite.

4: The West Coast Avengers! Elder Hoenigman and I were talking about what the future of the Marvel movies might be, (Because he’s as big of a nerd as I am) and I said that “I don’t want any more big space battles, can’t we just ave something really low-key, like, the WESt CoAsT AvengERs?” After that we were off to the races, talking about who would be on the team, who they could fight, some basic plot elements, etc. But we weren’t finished there, we planned out a whole movie series of 4 movies involving low-tier, trash avengers that we want to see on the big screen. The one character who stole the show was the UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL! Who is now over 50, smokes, and essentially just harasses the rest of the Avengers. It’ll be great, trust me, I just need to get in contact with some Disney higher-ups.

3: Why are P-Day’s for the boys? During the Mission Leadership Conference President Orton said that all p-day activities will be segregated, with elders and sisters meeting separately. So, sad that we don’t really meet as a zone anymore, but hey, that’s alright. Now we just get to hang out with the boys!

2: Joel and Ethan have some very good questions Toward the beginning of the week, we had a lesson with a couple guys at the college. It was really good, we had a nice Theological discussion, trying to make sure that we understand each other’s points of views. It wasn’t really bashing, and we all bore powerful testimony. They gave me some good questions to think about, namely; At what point did God allow non-Levites to hold the Priesthood? So that’ll be a great point of study this week.

1: New Phone, who dis? Unfortunately my phone had become broke. The glue that holds it together has started to become undone. Fortunately, it still works, it’s what I’m using Right now, but the battery is totally unreliable. I pretty much have to keep it plugged in all the time to make sure that I can use it. The problem is the battery will just die randomly. I’m so thankful for a loving mother who is willing to get me a new one so that I can keep doing the Lord’s work in this modern day. (But it is really nice not to have a tether though)

Love you all, hope that the Lord could speak directly to you through his prophets this weekend!

Ya Boi,

Elder James Berky

Sam’s Mountain Bike Team

[S12E1] No Habla Espanol

5: I don’t have to worry about speaking spanish! That’s right, my companion elder Holiman is no longer with us, and I am a Tri-panionship with the Zone Leaders! It’s been fun so far, knocking on people’s door, and suprise! I’m there! It’s also fun just walking down the sidewalk, which are designed for 2 people, so someone is usually left walking in the street, or left behind.

4: Pizza time! So we haven’t had pizza at all this week, I was just thinking about Spider-man 2. Point is, we’re going to be doing some great dinners, now that we have the collective money to do stuff like Swedish Meatballs, and Chicken Pot Pies. So if anyone wants to send me some recepies, that’d be great!

3: Richard R has a fantastic house! That sounds like a movie title, and it would make a cool movie. Brother R is a member that we tracted into, and because it was cold out, he let us in and gave us a tour of his house that he has been remodeling. It is a masterpiece! Although small, because the house was built in the 1930s, there are a lot of hidden gems in this guys’ place. He has a fantastic kitchen with all sorts of neat appliances, and his shower was the shower that Elon Musk probably has. My new goal in life is to have a house like Brother R.

2: That’s all the snow we got for this cold? I want a refund. It has been getting CHILLY recently, and tracting has been ‘fun’ because of it. Everyone takes pity on us, but hardly anyone is letting us in. 🙁 We were hearing some rumors about a nasty snowstorm coming our way on Sunday, and the clouds rolling in were incredibly threatening. When I woke up Sunday morning, expecting a white Christmas, all I got was a light frosting of the trees and rooftops. I was upsetti spaghetti. Should’ve learned from No Man’s Sky, don’t fall for the hype.

1: Baby’s first district council! So after ~15 months of being a missionary, President Orton finally held me down long enough to make me district leader. And even with no training, (Still haven’t gotten any btw) my first district council turned out alright. We talked about how we can teach like The Master, and the ways that Christ taught. It went well, and I hope that I can pin President down long enough to get some actual advice on how to be a District leader.

Well, that’s all folks!

Love Ya Boi

Elder James Berky

Picture is of Last Transfer when we helped the senior couple in Alturus, California with their technological problems.