James had a dream a while ago that he arrived home and there was no one to meet him at the airport. His flight arrived 30 minutes early this morning and there was no one there to meet him. We got there about 30 minutes after he arrived. We were suppose to meet him on the 2nd level of the short term parking garage at the Salt Lake airport, but we couldn’t get the van on to the 2nd level because of the bike racks on the roof. So we had to park on level 1 and get out and go up the stairs to level 2 to meet him.
The reunion was very joyous and his mom cried. He was surprised to see how much his brothers had grown and got a long hug from Ammon. We told James that we were going to help him get used to non-missionary life by picking up some chicks on the way home. We stopped by the farm (which is also a petting zoo) but the chicks were not ready. We petted the animals, held baby bunnies and fed baby goats. Then drove home.
The boys had fun showing James all the changes in Spanish Fork over the past two years, and more fun showing off all the changes in our house over the years – new deck, wood floor in the living room, hall bathroom remodel, new carpet on the stairs and in the upstairs bedroom, newly painted upstairs bedroom, new Lazy-boy chairs in the basement, and Julles game closet. Julles worked from home today so she could greet James when he arrived.
LaReita also had a sign company put up a huge sign in the front yard. Tonight we’ll play some games as a family, then have dinner. At 7pm the ward youth are going to do a drive-by to welcome James home.
Picking James up at the SLC airport – took a few minutes for us to get the van into the parking garage to just the right spotStopped at a petting zoo to pick up some new chicks – just what James wanted to do his first day backMaking new friendsA sign that connects with MomBaby goats!James and the giant signThe family behind the sign
Wow. It’s really here. I can’t believe it. My last Email. Technically I could do one more, but I’m probably gonna be packing most of next Monday. The 2 years I’ve spent in Oregon serving the Lord have been the best 2 years not just of my life, but for my life.
I have been able to see other people change and come to accept Jesus Christ, and I’ve been able to see myself change, and I have been able to come closer to Christ. No greater lesson could be learned. 2 Nephi 9:17 Talks about the graciousness and glory of God! How wonderful, if you haven’t felt or thought about that this week, I invite you to. Take some time, do some pondering. Find where you have felt of God’s love for you. John 3:16 also testifies of this.
Well, I would love to say and tell more, but words can’t quite express what I wish too. Also I’m hungry and looking at this Chipotle gift card (Thanks Mom!) See ya in a week.
Sorry for not emailing last week, but not much happened. the same can be said for this week, sort of, but I still need to write an email, I’ll feel bad if I don’t.
5: Zone Conference! Because we are not allowed to see people anymore, the way that we are going to be doing Zone Conference is over Zoom. It was a mess at first, but we got it figured out. I’m not a fan because I miss seeing my friends, but oh well. We are to continue the work in any way that we can, circumstances will not stop us.
4: General Conference!! How cool was that? President Nelson was right, it truly was unforgettable! I really liked how President Nelson introduced a symbol for our church. After 200 years (technically 190 but whatever) we have something that we can rally around. I look forward to all the different ways that the symbol of Christ will be used in the future. I also really loved the proclamation of the Restoration. It is the essentials of everything that we talk about with the restoration! Super cool.
3: Face masks? Are we that far gone? This morning we were instructed to always be wearing face masks when out in public. I don’t like it, but the instruction comes from the bretheren, so who am I to fight it?
2: Hehe, milsurp Because Elder Line and I are really bored, and are not going to see any missionaries today, we decided to stop by the Military Surplus store for the fun of it. I low-key wanted to get a gas mask, but they were all upwards of $40. So I did the next best thing, and bought a bag! A gas mask bag! It even has a little holder for a oxygen tank. Pretty cool, and only $8! Also saw a neat combat helmet and had to take a pic.
1: Dating and temple marriage? I don’t like ‘MyPlan’ When missionaries are going home, they do a 6 week course that prepares them for life after (mission) death. It’s been pretty good so far, got me thinking about school, employment, institute, all that. But this week is the one I’ve been dreading. Dating and temple marriage is going to put the nail in the coffin for me, forcing me to realize I’m going home. For the past 2 years, whenever I’ve talked to a girl, I’ve always thought; “Is talking to her going to get me in trouble?” So for me to stop thinking that way is going to be a big indicator that I won’t be a missionary for much longer. Although it’s ending, I’ve loved what I have been able to do for the Lord, the people of Oregon, and Myself. I don’t remember where I heard it, but someone said; “A mission isn’t just the best 2 years of your life, it’s the best 2 years FOR your life.” And I couldn’t agree more. I am so ready to serve the Lord in a different way, and am incredibly grateful to have done what I have. I love you, and Jesus loves you.
Ya Boi,
Elder James Berky
My face mask Me getting ready for a video call zone conference Me at the Military Surplus Birthday cheesecake and conference!
Anthony does some welding to fix LaMont’s Frisbee golf stand (4/10/2020)Mom and Sam on a hike (4/11/2020)Jacob and Ammon on the hike (4/11/2020)Ammon ready for action (4/17/2020)James makes a mission delicacy (4/22/2020)James reading to Ammon (4/25/2020)
Wow! I would start off by saying the things that have happened since last week, but I think the better statement is what HASN’T happened since last week.
5: Who egged our house? We came home to our apartment after going out for a bit and saw a pigeon perched upon our porch light. Later after we came back from tracting, we saw that this bird had laid an egg, and there was quite a splatter and mess made on our porch. Stupid bird.
4: Elder Line, you better stop that coughing or I’m calling the police! Elder Line started to not feel good, so we chalked it up to a regular old cold. Well, he still wasn’t feeling the best by the next day. Starting to get worried, we called our mission nurse, and she said to get some rest and take some medicine. Problem is, all the shelves are clear of medicine as well as toilet paper. After a couple of days though, he was fine. It really was just a cold.
3: It’s not like we infected anyone, we haven’t seen anyone! On Wednesday we were instructed that we should not go tracting. Okay, that’s cool, we just had a good conversation with this guy named Billy earlier that day, so we got to do some missionary work. We then came to the church and did some stuff with the bishop, so that was a pretty good day. Well, as the week progressed, we were told that we couldn’t go to investigator’s homes, and then members homes. Yeah. It’s starting to get wack. We can still leave the apartment, and go shopping, but for the most part the only face to face contact we have with people is by walking around. You know, with everyone staying home from work, people have decided that it’s really nice to go on walks, and enjoy the early spring air. So we see lots more people out and about than we did previously. That’s good, plenty to talk to.
2: So, what else do we do with our time? Well one of the things that I’ve capitalized on is the extra time we have to work out. I’ve been going HARD, doing a full workout twice a day. When Imma get home I’ll be massive! Another thing that we can do with our time is extra studies! I may get through the Old Testament for the first time ever! But that’s not really missionary work is it? The other things that we’ll be doing is contacting people on Facebook, or use whitepages to call random homes, etc. We’ve seen some success in the zone, but Elder Line and I haven’t seen any personally.
1: Let’s address the title By telling you a story. Last week, we got the news that missionaries over 20 months had the choice to go home. I thought; “Oh no, I won’t take that, I’ve only got 12 weeks left, it’s fine.” But when I told Mom that, she said something that stuck to me. “Have you asked the Lord?” As soon as she said that, I had the end of Jacob 4:8 came to mind. “Despise not the revelations of God” As soon as I knew that I knew that I had to ask. Even if I wasn’t going to like the answer. So that night I asked the Lord, and told him that I would accept his answer, but was told that I wouldn’t receive an answer immediately. The next morning, I studied my partirachical blessing, and while I was praying, I got my answer. I was to return home. Dang. So close to the end of a natural mission. Oh well, despise not the revelations of God right? Shortly after that experience we went to do service for a food pantry, halfway through that we got a call from our mission president. Never a good sign. We told him that we could call him in 10-20 minutes. That ride back to our place was stressful, then he said he wanted to video chat. That was a stressful walk to the church. President then informed me that I no longer had a choice, and will be going home at the end of this transfer. Pretty funny right? I had received my answer when I was ready for it. When I had humbled myself to accept the Lord’s will, then was I permitted to receive it. So yeah, I’ll be coming home on April 22nd.
Crazy. Actually, I might go crazy by the end of this transfer, cause we can’t even meet with other missionaries, except to buy groceries. Even then, we can’t go into the store together. It’s all wack out there, but the hand of the Lord will steady us if we let him.
Sorry for not emailing the past few weeks, my Gmail wasn’t syncing up with my phone, and lots of other problems. So after a couple of days working with Tech support, I got it fixed. They had to take Maas360 (the church’s nanny program) off my phone and put it back on. It was kinda weird seeing youtube on my phone. The weirder part? I’ll have that in 11 weeks.
Yeah, I’ve only got a little bit left on my mission and We’ve been going HARD. Or at least we will until we get quarantined. Yes that’s right, this Coronavirus has got everyone acting CRaZy! We’ve had several conference calls about it, and even got a load of extra cash to stock up on food for 2-3 weeks in case us missionaries get locked up. (Pic included) Don’t worry Mom, we also have plenty of frozen fruits and veggies.
Well, I’m no longer in Roseburg, I’ve been transferred out and came down to Medford! The North Umpqua area will be in the faithful hands of Elders Duering and Schmidt. I’m glad for my time there, but I’m also glad to be back where I started my mission. It’s like poetry. It rhymes.
At any rate, I came down to be a part of a baptism! Devin was baptized this Saturday and confirmed after some deliberation and confusion on whether it was happening or not. We got it okay-ed after being told it would have to be very short and small. We had no more than 20 people there, and Elder Line and I gave the only talk. Pretty wack if I do say so, but we got the most important thing done, so ehh who cares if it was kinda weird.
Speaking of weird, how about Sunday? No church as a missionary makes everything feel super wack. The sabbath didn’t even really feel like it, it was just a normal day of missionary work. I sure hope we get something figured out with this. But how inspired is our Prophet? He knew this was coming, so he prepared us for the past year to be getting used to doing scripture study at home!
I’ve got to say, I really like Come Follow Me, yesterday was the first time I’ve been able to actually do it. I look forward to doing more studiously at home with more than just one other Nerd.
Oh, by the way, that other nerd is Elder Line! My new companion is from Logan Utah, but will be going home to Kenya! He’s great, we’ve been grinding (as long as we don’t have any bike troubles) and he’s been out for just under 18 months. That makes us the oldest missionaries in the Zone! Wack.
Well, looks like the Zone Leaders are here, so imma head out and get some groceries. Need some more milk for my protein shakes. (Thanks mom!) I finally have multiple dumbbells so I can build up my body as a temple to God. Love you all, but Christ loves you more!
4: Where did he come from? Elder Seegmiller got Emergency Transferred (Transferred to a new area in the middle of the transfer) I’ve served around him plenty of times before, he’s great! He will be going home soon so he’s trying to work as hard as he can to forget about the fact that he is going home.
3: I’m not spending any more money on card games, but I will play After spending waaaay too much money on Pokemon cards I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t spend any more money on card games like that. However quite a few of my companions play Magic The Gathering, and so with both Elder Seegmiller and Schmidt wanting to play… I…. played with them on the condition that I will not spend anything on the game. It’s pretty fun. Good way to spend the time when we have nothing going on at 8:30pm.
2: Interviews! We had interviews with President Orton this week, it went really good, President and I talked about how I can continue to help my companions and keep focus for the time that I have left. We also talked about a video of Grandpa Leavitt that Mom sent me. Turns out he knows a few Leavitts! Small world huh?
1: How has my testimony grown? I would just like to say, how much our Father loves us. He wants all his children to come back to him again, no matter who they are. Even when we make mistakes he loves us, he doesn’t condone our actions, however. That’s an important distinction.Good doesn’t give us a pass to do as we please, we have all seen parents who let their kids do as they please, those kids are not good people. But God will stay with us through thick and thin, and will forgive us of our mistakes as long as we are willing to improve and grow. This growth and return can only be done through his Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 shows us that Jesus is the proof of God’s love for us.
Was plenty fun, got to see some of my mission friends, and Elder Seegmiller gave a great departing testimony.
3: Goats! We had a great lesson with the Browns, talking about how important the restoration of the Gospel is. After we were done they wanted to show us their goats. They were cool, and looked exactly like goats, I don’t know what else to tell you. Some of them were small, no bigger than a Labrador, and the Browns had no idea why they were so small. (Pic included)
2: My buddies! Got to see my mission friends at Zone Conference, like Elders Hyer, Griffith, Ethington, and more. It was really cool and good to see how much everyone has grown.
1: Mrs. Applesmith While tracting we ran into Mrs Applesmith, I forgot her first name, and talked about families for well over an hour while her grandkids played. She had been going through quite a bit lately, so us sharing the message of the Plan of Salvation really helped her out. It was good after a whole week of fruitless tracting to have a good experience with some one. Hopefully we can catch her again, she’s pretty busy.
I’ve been able to see my testimony grow much this week, I love the Lord, and my Heavenly Father.
4: Title of email Elder Schmidt and I were having a nice conversation with an older guy about the gospel and. We told him our beliefs about how God isn’t just a mass of energy that became aware of itself, but is an actual living being. At any rate while we were talking about gospel stuff, this guy stops the conversation, and starts talking about how Donald Trump is the worst. I was like, What? What does that have to do with anything? He even recognized that he brought it up out of nowhere. Really wanted to say something, but it’s more important to be nice.
3: Finally! A new Couch! We have had half of a ratty, gross green sectional that we needed to shove up against the wall in order to use it for the longest time. Well I finally got fed up with it, and called our mission office asking for something that was more befitting a missionary apartment. So after some finacking to get it upstairs we now have a great new couch! Thanks El. Henreditty!
2: Exercising my talents! This week, as Elder Schmidt and I were wrapping up our family history session (Yeah we’re starting that now) I printed out some sheet music. It was something that I knew wouldn’t be to difficult, but still familiar, and that’s Minecraft! It’s the piece called “Wet Hands” and it’s not too crazy, but still has given me plenty of trouble with the key signature. But I’m figuring it out! That’s not the only talent that I’ve been working to improve on, I’ve also been practicing my sketching. I unfortunately don’t have any pics of my sketches, but they’ve been pretty good. I’m trying to get realistic looking motion down, instead of just all my drawings standing still, with their hands at their sides.
1: Member lessons, all day, Every day We’ve been trying to get to know the ward better, so we have been calling up lots of members and setting up lessons with them, not only during the usual time during the evening, but also during the day as well! It’s been going very well, and we hope that the momentum will continue so that we can meet all the members of the ward and be really close with them! Another great thing is that Elder Schimidt and I have been able to practice our teaching together. Every single time you get a new companion there’s a space of time where you try to figure out each other’s teaching styles, and get in unison. Elder Schmidt and I are already there I feel, because we have been teaching so often!
I’ve been able to see my testimony grow a lot this week, through the constant bearing of it in all our lessons.
Elder Schmidt and I have been getting along great! Its been kinda a weird week, not much success, we couldn’t even talk to anyone. No one wanted to talk to us at all, so that kinda sucks. But hey! It’s been pretty good otherwise! Don’t have much to talk about as a result, but here are some pics!(We tracted into a part member family who had a whole reptile zoo in there house.)
Love you all, my testimony of the atoning sacrifice of the Savior has grown considerably this week, and I invite you all to do the same!
