Category: James

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

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

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

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. 

Sorry for not writing last week, but it was a weird week. We had our temple trip on Thursday, which was the new pday, so I just decided to not write at all. Anywho, I’ll make this short cause I want to go get some fried chicken from Albertsons. 

4: Staying the several nights in Medford! While Elder Johnson went on his departing temple trip of the mission, I got to stay in Medford for a couple of nights with Elder Thorson! We did stuff like; do laundry, wait for the zoneleaders who forgot that the temple trip was that day, and… wait for the zone leaders. That was fun, we went to Costco, because I have a Costco card (Thanks Julles) and got some pizza (Kash Money Kerbs sent it on a full pizza, thanks bud.)

3: Cleaning and packing Because Elder Johnson is leaving, and so am I, we have been packing and cleaning. Sisters will be coming in, so we have to clean our apartment REAL good. But that’s not enough for me, so I’m writing weird things down on 3×5 cards and hiding them all over the apartment.

2: Why am I leaving? I’ve been transferred in-zone over to the 3rd ward, but that’s not enough Shenanagins for me, I’m also getting a Spanish Elder! 

1: Ihr Sprachen paar espanol So in addition to doing our work in Klamath 3rd ward Elder Holiman and I will be finding Spanish people. Elder Holiman will be teaching in Spanish, and I will be sitting there, trying to follow along.

4: Service for Treasures! We regularly do service for a thrift store that sells people’s leftover stuff when they… well… leave. It’s a lot of fun, and usually we are cleaning dishes, testing electronics and tents, and whatever other stuff gets brought in. But this week we played board games! We had to make sure that all the pieces were there, and the games worked properly. Plenty of monopoly and Yahtzee.

3: Service that gets you shot We were doing service for someone in the sister’s area, and it kinda ruined our whole week. I can’t say much because there’s still an investigation, but what I can say is that there was an accidental gunshot that wounded 2 missionaries (Both are fine and joking about it) I’m okay, and grateful for the blessing of the Lord for protecting his servants. Yeah, crazy week, had to go through a lot of questioning.

2: Shortly after that service, we had more!! During our interviews with President, a guy named Shawn came into the church and asked if we could help him move off his lot by Friday. We told him we could after we were done with our interviews, and when we were we headed over. (After changing) His place looked a little sketchy, and he walked out with a glock in his shoulder holster. We all looked at the elder and his bandaged arm and kinda laughed. Later when he asked about it, we all had a good laugh.

1: The final service was moving and talking about Taika Waititi’s spiderman movie As we were moving out a very nice place one of the elders and I were talking about how good a Taika Waitit spider-man movie starring Jeff Goldbloom would be.

Hey I’ve got to get going, but I love you all, and my testimony has grown so much this week. Who would’ve thought that a trip to the hospital would do that?
Ya boi, Elder James Berky

I don’t have any time because we spent the whole day at Lava Beds national monument. So i’m going to to a slightly humorous set of status updates.

============================

Testimony of christ: Grown

Puppies seen? Check

Caves Spellunked: Not deep enough, need more time, more flexable back, and boots.

Lessons taught: 12

Zone conference? Success, could’ve been summerized however

The Boys: Seen

Noho’s: Eaten and enjoyed

The truck: No longer clean, advise to avoid swarms of midges

My body: Sore, core workouts are awful, but makes you swole

Our dishes: Clean now

Burger: eaten

Sending status? Full send.

This concludes status report. Summary; mission is a good time.

===============================

Ya boi Elder James Berky

Wow, this week has flown by! It feels like I say that every week though.

5: So we’ve started working out with Bruce Lee every Monday. Not THE Bruce Lee, but he still works us hard. We’ve been doing chest and legs, and let me tell you, I hurt all over. But it’s a good hurt, a hurt that will build into something else. I’ve lost some weight, put on some muscle, and can now climb hills without being too out of breath.

4: Joey and Liz are so ready for the gospel! Joey and Liz are a fantastic couple, when we are teaching them, we have to hold back otherwise we would flooding them with too much gospel! They just ask so many questions, and are really excited for it. The spirit is so strong whenever we meet with them! The only problem is they have to run their business on the weekends, otherwise they would get baptized!

3: Grocery outlet is the truth! So I severely over-budgeted, and so I only had a $20 for groceries. Luckily grocery outlet covered me! We’re just going to be having Chicken, Rice, and Broccoli. I learned my lesson, and am going to be sticking to my budget strictly!

2: Talking about movies. Elder Hoeningman is a huge movie guy, and so when we have been together we talk about movies and stuff. It’s a good time, and I’m running out of things to write about….

1: Friday Feast! Every Friday we all get together and make dinner. This week we had chili. It was super chill. 

Is what I felt when we drove into the Klamath Valley. It looks so much like southern Utah I got thrown for a loop.

5: Klamath is great! Even though it feels like I’m back home Klamath is fantastic. It’s nice and hot, but not too hot you know? We also have plenty of people to work with. Speaking of…

4: Jimmy please look at me! The previous elders had been working with a guy named Jimmy, who has a really bad Lazy eye. It’s really hard to tell who he’s looking at. But he has prayed about the Book of Mormon, and is willing to be baptized! He was even concerned that he wouldn’t be able to make the date of October 2nd because he wouldn’t be able to make it to church enough times! He’s the man!!

3: Puppies!! When we were heading to dinner with some members we saw a bunch of puppies! When we talked to the lady, she told us that all the little puppies had biblical names! Super cute! That’s the real reason you should be a missionary, so you can pet puppies!!

2: Elder Johnson is trunky!! So elder Johnson is going home at the end of this transfer, and everyone (including me keeps reminding him) But that doesn’t mean we aren’t working hard, just thinking a lot about home, and it doesn’t help that this place looks like home. But hey, when it gets too bad, we just lift weights until we’re so tired we fall asleep. (I’m so glad to have an actual bench.)

1: Friday Feast! Is a dinner on Friday that all the elders put together to just hang out and have some good food. This week we did Green Enchiladas, and next week we are doing chili. But we are doing it at our place next week, cause we have a better place. 

Well, I’ve got to get going. Love y’all and love Jesus Christ!

Ya boi Elder Berky 

4: Unfortunately not for our area But it doesn’t matter where, as long as they have entered into a covenant with our Heavenly Father. The first one was a baptism of an 8-year old that our Zone Leaders tracted into (interesting situation there). Then, we headed to a baptism for someone that Elder Clark taught when he was on campus. That was great, the missionaries who baptized her also did a wonderful musical number. Then after a full day of tracting (more on that later). Our Zone had 2 more baptisms. Those 24 hours were fantastic, spirit led, and spirit filled.

3: 12 hours of tracting! Something else that we did on Saturday was a nine-to-nine, where we got together as a zone, shuffled companionships, and tracted from 9 in the morning to 9 at night. Of course we took time out to go to baptisms, but you get the point. It was great, I talked to plenty of people, got a recommendation on some bluetooth headphones, and told a Buddhist we would get him a Cambodian Book of Mormon

2: But I will not be able to follow through with any of that 🙁 Because I am getting transferred. Yep, after only a short 6 weeks in Eugene I’m heading out. I’ll be going to the southern Part of the mission, Klamath Falls. Oh, the best part? I’m going to be white-washing again! My companion is coming in from the northern part of the mission, so we both know nothing about the area. Yaaay! I know that I’m being tested for something however, so I’m going to step up in ways that I haven’t been stepping up in. This will be a great growing experience.

1: Griff is metal AF I just remembered! During our nine-to-nine Elder Griffith and I came across a baby hummingbird! Cute right? NO! This little guy must’ve hit a car or something, because his beak was ruined, his jaw broken, his wings broken, several bald patches on his tiny body, etc. So, we picked him up, and asked someone if they knew where an animal hospital was, he didn’t (he also didn’t want to hear our message), so we prayed and felt that we should call a local animal care place. They said that their bird guy would be out until Wednesday, but we could take the bird to a wildlife refuge. We asked if they would just put him down and the lady on the phone said “Yeah, probably, as bad as the bird sounds.” We said don’t worry, we’ll deal with it. So sad. I knew what was going to happen as soon as we saw him, but still wanted to see if we could give him a chance.

I love you all, and can testify that the day of miracles has not ceased!

Ya Boi,

Elder James Berky