Category: Samuel

Good day my fellows, my chaps, my aquaintances, dare I say… Lads?

Anyway, It has been a pretty good week. It has absolutely flown by. I have a strong feeling that it will continue to do so for the next 2 years. But I am fine with that. 

Highlights

Moved into our flat finally. (No more tiny AirB&B)

Watched the Chosen on the TV in our AirB&B before we left. (Should have done it earlier)

Aquired a furnishing for our flat. (alledgedly)

Bought military equipment off of facebook marketplace (a backpack and mission satchel)

Have real cooking equipment now (I made salsa)

Goated meal appointments (even if we had to travel an hour and a half by bus)

Visiting Nan again, she is awesome. (see attached video)

SHOUTOUTS

ALDI – sourdough, tools and hotwheels.

M&S – $1.75 two foot long baguette.

One of the Sisters friends, for making us a roast on Saturday. 

Vodaphone for killing my sim card

I also gave a talk on Sunday because bishop asked on Saturday, so I talked about God’s love for us. And how we can keep Him in our hearts. It was pretty great. We also brought our homie James to Church on Sunday. We picked him up from his house. As we were getting there, Elder Olds was checking the bus route, and it got cancelled. So we sent a text into one of the ward chats, and got a member to come pick us up, which was clutch. James had a good time at church, he stepped out a couple times to rip a fat one off of his vape though. We shall teach him the word of wisdom this week haha. After church we tried to go to a friends house for a lesson, but our bus got cancelled. (there was a marathon going on on Sunday, so bus routes were cooked) So we went back to the chapel and tried to call them, but they said they had just left for work. Bruh. We need to just keep going haha. 

Flat move in was on Wednesday. It was fun. The office Elder dropped us off at district council while they set up a bunch of stuff. then we got lunch in town, and they drove us back. I can’t wait till I have a car. Busses are buns. The Flat is great. But empty. Need couch. its fine though. I really just care about the kitchen, and its amazing. A gas stove, good cooking utensils, and even spices. Shoutout to Elder Olds, because he was the housing coordinater before he trained me, and put together a flat furnishings list with links to amazon items. He chose well. See video on my google photos album for flat tour. 

Pday was chill. We have meal appointments every night this week, so didnt need to buy any dinner items, even though we have stuff for it. so I will be eating a great breakfast this week. Consisting of greek yogurt, cottage cheese and berries, and some granola. 

I need to (for a lack of better terms) “lock in” 

For many reasons. But it can be challenging to do so. England loves carbs, and protein is expensive. Plus every meal appointment they feed us dessert. Because that is common in England. But alas, God gives his hardest battles to his strongest warriors. If that battle be English food, so be it. But to defeat your enemy you must know your enemy – sun kist, art of sugar.

One benefit of England dietary practices, is that vegetables are common, and cheap, as well as nearly all soda is Zero sugar. So that is pretty chill. So we have some good things here. I just need to remember my training from ARMY fat camp haha. Good thing I brought my journal with me. 

I have been studying alot of PMG (Preach My Gospel) latetly, because our mission President says “Preach My Gospel should be in your DNA” and he is correct. So I have been studying it alot more. I really think that not only missionaries should read it, but everyone. It is a great resource to learn our gospel principles, not only surface level. But it does a great job at providing scriptures for us to study to deepen our understanding. So I encourage you all to read some PMG. 

Other than that. I am doing absolutly fantastic. I have been getting some updates about James at Basic in Fort Sill. He is having a blast there. It is fun to hear some of the things the Drill Sargeants do to mess with the trainees. And other updates from family are amazing. 

I love you all! Jesus does too!

Elder Berky

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9QsVXWnMXFVcH8AV6

I will call it week 6. Just because it was the last week of the transfer. Good news, I am staying in Pontefract, as is my trainer. And we got our move in date for our actual flat. The 15th. So finally we will have a real place to live. AirB&B is small. 

Lots of great things this week. 

A new friend, alcoholic, but very motivated to get back on track.

Lots of lessons with friends

Baked cookies

Did yard work/service for Nan. (Old British lady/member, gave me a temu watch)

Ate Five Guys. The burber place. (Mucho dinero$$$ never again)

Knocked for like 4 hours on Saturday.

New family at church.

Sang a song with the Sisters in our wardshare

New segment (copying from my buddy Elder Pricer)

SHOUTOUTS

Batesons Bakery – fire pastries and sammiches. Plus it’s cheap

Turkish barber, for the skin fade while listening to some guy groaning/singing in a Arabic. Good cut though

Hemmingway’s. Member family. Goated meal, and funny.

Robertson’s. Member family. Yummy meal. And they are going to Utah in August. They might be at the West Jordan Demo Derby. 

Squashies – Egland candy. Like a fluffy airhead. Or a stiff marshmallow. But yummy, and cheap

Traeger BBQ seasoning rub i brought from home

Alright, downsides.

James didn’t come to church. Bruh. So we have to push his baptism back. 

Some canceled lessons

Like 4 people said they were coming to church, then didn’t. 

All is well. Good things to come. There will be a cool thing happening soon. Elder Gilbert will be showing up and giving a mission devotion for the Leeds and Manchester Missions. So that will be sick. Been reading more D&C. Lots about sending people on missions and other stuffs. But revelation is real. And Jesus loves you. 

“This is true”

Elder Berky

GREETINGS, LIFE FORMS OF THE CHOSEN

It was an amazing week. On Teusday we put our boy James on date for baptism! 

Other than that, it was pretty great. Had an exchange with the Zone Leaders. My trainer went to Middlesburough. And I stayed. We went finding and knocking. The Zone leader said he has never done any knocking before. Because he has always been in an area with a very active public finding place. But there isn’t much here. A couple busy streets, but the flow of people fluctuates from busy to nothing pretty frequently. But I learned alot from him. Like getting people to talk and think about what they belive. While we may not be putting them in our area book. Hopefully they can remember that moment, and begin to think deeper about life, and their personal beliefs. 

Had some great meal appointments this week too. Got a proper taste (or lack thereof) of some classic British food. It honestly wasn’t bad. Just bland. But sometimes life itself can be bland. So we must rejoice in all things. 

Been reading some more D&C this week. It is really interesting to see that it is where we get much of the churches organizational routines and guidelines. I didn’t know that it went that far back. 

Didn’t end up having any of our friends at church. James for some reason didn’t show up. But he doesn’t have a phone either,  so yea. I think next week we will just pick him up and travel with him. Because he is on our way there as well. But all is well. He is a great guy. Oh also when we were walking to our meal appointment on Sunday I got a call from one of the online refferals I had texted. And bro was having it rough. Clearly was drunk. Said he is an alcoholic and has been sick stuck in bed for a week. And wants to come to church. Talked with him awhile and we’re going to meet him Monday evening, but he said to come tommorow. So we shall see how that goes. But I hope he turns his life around. 

Didn’t do much for P day. Got a haircut. Grocery shopping. Played cards with the Sisters in our ward share. Went to Five Guys for dinner. Then tried visiting some of our interested friends. But no luck. All is well. Got some good walking in at least

Transfers are next week. Hopefully we will have a flat by then. We are still in the AirB&B. It’s small, but doable.

I love you all! God does too! Be a light unto others and remember that everyone is going through something, whether they make it known or not. Assume the best from people. Even if they are rude, they probably are just sad. 

The Book is Blue, the Gospel is true!

ELDER BURR OF KEYYS

Hey yall! I know i didn’t write a letter last week. I dont have an excuse. I just didn’t. It was both eventful, and uneventful. 

Key things that happened week 2. 

Temple trip.

Interviews with President 

The temple trip was great. A very long bus ride to Preston. But we played mafia, it was fun. Had dominoes pizza while we were there. Twas scrumptious. Then I slept the whole bus ride back. 

Interviews with President were fun. We got to the stake center early. It’s in York which is a bit of a travel there. But its great. We had district council. Then interviews. One of the senior missionary couples brought soup for lunch because there were alot of missionaries doing interviews. So lunch was fire. Interview was good. Mostly talked about planning our days effectively. 

Then like all of our friends ghosted us for lessons. : (        oh well. Such is life. 

This past week was alot better because we didn’t have any events where we had to travel. On Tuesday we had an exchange with the AP’s.  The assistants to the president. It was fun. Ended up finding 9 people that day. Which is alot for our area. Some of them have kept in contact. But gentle persistence is key. 

Wednesday was one of the sisters in our districts birthday. And she goes home this transfer. So we went to KFC for lunch. It was good. Rest of the week went pretty well. Had some great lessons. Some fell through. But on this most recent Sunday we had 4 friends that we had invited come to church. Which was awesome. Hopefully now they are interested and willing to recieve. 

I have started reading D&C and have repeatedly come across the phrase. “The feild is white and ready to harvest.” I correlate that with missionary work. Many people nowadays are fearful of many things because of all of the stuff happening in the world today. So they are seeking something further to give them peace and hope. We have seen that firsthand as missionaries. We get at least 1 or 2 online refferals a day. And a good amount of people we talk to are searching or questioning about what is more. 

On Sunday I got to call James, my eldest brother who recently got to basic training for the ARMY. I am so proud of him, and I got to give him some advice for the people who he is having trouble with. This is what I told him

Being a soldier is a long commitment. You will learn every single day. It is both to keep you safe and to make sure you get home to your loved ones ALIVE. Remember what you learn. And take it to heart.

I know he will be great, and I can’t wait to hear more from him.

I also brought my journal from military training with me, and something I read stuck out to me

In the military, patience is hard to come by. Like currency. Some people have much, others have little. But it can be gained easily, through willpower and deep thought. But it can also be taken away easily if you let people with little patience disrupt your inner balance. 

I love you all! Stay strong and read your scriptures!

Join my Google photos : )

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9QsVXWnMXFVcH8AV6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XJrigfhbv5JMUG8N8

Alrighty trainees, twas an interesting week. We didnt have a working SIM card/phone number till saturday. So alot of Whatsapp maxxing and find maxxing. But it was still pretty great. On Teusday we had zone conference, which was fire. The Kerrs (the mission president and his wife) are awesome people. The main topic was effective daily and weekly planning. so we did some practical and thoughful discussions on the best ways we can go about it. For lunch we had pasta and salad. the rolls were very good. Meeting all the Elders and Sisters in my zone was cool too. I met one of my friends from high schoo. Elder Levi Birch, he is a year younger than me, but we talked a good amount in the welding shop. It was really great to catch up with him. He got here last transfer, so he is only a month ahead of me. Hopefully we will get to be companions at some point. 

The rest of the week was great, knocked doors, walked around markets and the such. Most of the people are pretty nice. We get alot of online refferals from like facebook ads the church runs. Or directly from their website. But not many of them answer our communication attemps. All is well. We had a great lesson with one person who lives real close to us. So that is great. He said he wants his family to join us next time. Because he works nights, and his wife works during the day sometimes its hard, but we have another lesson scheduled. I am really hopeful for him and his family, they are really nice. He has one son who is in his rebellious phase and is doing the usual rebellious teenager things. 

I guess it was a pretty mediocre week. But some will be better than others. Such is life. In my personal studies I have read alot and taken notes about Captain Moroni. Throughout his whole life, he fought for the freedom of his brethren. Defended his peoples peace and religion. When he heard of troubles in the kingdom, he took action as soon as possible to defend the righteous from the evil doers who sought to take away their freedom. Was incredibly smart and future oriented. As soon as he had gained victory over the enemy, he never stopped forifying and protecting the cities and people. Constantly fortifying and strengthening our personal testimony and faith in Jesus Christ WILL protect us WHEN the howling storms and tempests blow. One of the verses in the section when Captain Moroni sent a letter to the government, is as follows “Yea behold I do not fear your power nor you authority, but it is my God whom I fear” and later. “Behold, I am Moroni, your cheif captain. I seek not for power but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.” This man is such a baller. 

Have a wonderful week, till we meet again.

Those who seek the fold of Christ will be eager to hear more of his words. That being the Book of Mormon. 

Man, time changes are rough. I’m chilling now though.

But anyways, the last few days at the MTC were fun. I lowkey like packing (its more fun when it isnt a punishment haha). I almost missed the bus to the airport becuase my alarm didnt go off at 3 30 AM. Luckily the MTC knows missionaries like sleeping, becuase a security guard opened up my door and said “Is there a Sam Berky in here?” Yea, I was like 40 minutes late. I’ll tell you what though, took me 10 minutes to get ready, and run to the other side of the mtc for my bus. Of which, running was 5 minutes. Yea that was fun. Other than that, travel went well. Flights got delayed, but we had a good layover buffer for them all, so it wasn’t an issue. Got a little bit of sleep on the transatlantic flight to Amsterdam. I wasnt able to get any belgian waffles sadly, as due to previous delays, our flight to England was in like 20 minutes. I dont know why, but the hour flight from Amsterdam to England was way worse than the 9 hour flight. Probably because the seats sucked, and I was motion sick. 

We landed and got off the plane, went through customs, then got our bags. I say “our” because there was 6 of us, 2 Sisters and 4 Elders. The Leeds airport is very new, and still under construction, but I was impressed by its efficiency and design. Leaving, we saw some elders and an older guy, walked with them to some vans. Put our luggage in, and then all piled into another van. The rental van had one row of seats facing the normal way, then the seats closer to the front, were facing the rear. I mistakingly chose the rearfacing seat. I was doing my best not to empty what little contents remained in my stomach. I dont know why I was so motion sick, maybe just my inner American being angry with the tea sippers. But alas, we made it to the mission home. Very nice place, chilled for a bit, did some paperwork and orientation. Talked with some folks, did a short interview with the Mission President, Kerr, and his wife. They are cool. Took some pictures. Us 6 from the airport weren’t the only new ones this transfer, they had about 13 other missionaries from the Preston MTC there too. A bus arrived and we loaded all of the luggage on, and made our way to the Leeds Institute, where we had some lunch (sandwiches, 4/10) and then had a small meeting to get introduced to the mission, as well as our trainers. I was one of the last people called up. And was introduced to Elder Olds. He is a pretty cool guy. Has been here for 9 months, the last 5 of which were in the office doing behind the scenes stuff. Like managing flats (apartments) and other various paperwork things that come along with having 176 missionaries. Apparently, when the office got all the intake information, Elder Olds saw my picture and said, “I’m gonna train that guy” so when he got called up everyone was cheering. 

That whole introduction sequence was super fun. Afterwards we loaded all of our luggage into different vans. Because we are splitting off into different areas. (duhh) Me and Elder Olds were the first to get dropped off, in Castleford. Our area is the Pontefract area. with surrounding cities. It is quite large. But we have a Sister companionship in our area too, so we have it split up with them. Me and Elder Olds are actually staying in an AirB&B right now. He said its because the flat that they had lined up, fell through at the last minute. So while the new office people try to get another place for us. The AirB&B is alright, in a basement, small, landlord special. But its alright. This area is a newly made district in the mission. So we have no areabook from previous missionaries to work with. So we are doing alot of finding as of now. 

Its been great so far. Found a decent amount of people. England is an interesting place. We had our first member meal 2 days ago. It was actually fire, they are from the philipienes and Equador, so they made some tasty grub. they even gave us some watermelon to take back with us. We met with another member in the ward and talked with them for awhile (maybe a little too long) but they were fun. The bus system here is pretty fun. I had to get a card, but the machine didnt spit one out, so now I am out 27 pound (36 bucks (a pair of ball joints)) untill I complain enough to them. They said it would go back into my account. (But an American has skepticism for the cavity connoisseurs) I will probably go back and complain today or tommorow. Because I have no money 🙁 

General conference has been nice, both days were very slow for knocking/prosceliting, since its easter people are like, “I have had enough Jesus for the day, bye!” but all is well. We watched the first sessions at the church with the Sisters. But had to go back home for the second sessions, since it started at 9 pm for us. They were very nice. We had some members join us yesterday at the church for our watch party. One was baptized a couple of months ago, he is cool, had been a smoker his whole life, quit before he was baptized. but he still has the aura to him. But that is okay, Jesus heals the sick and the weary.

Onto the Segment about british food. My first experience was at the institute where we had some sandwiches made for us by some members. they were okay, not very good, but that could have been the motion sickness talking. Sandwiches 4/10. Had some crisps (potato chips), they were decent, nothing mind boggling. 5/10. Other food has been decent. had a chicken sandwich from GREGGS (like a maverick bonfire grill, but dedicated store. Good meal deals) It was pretty good, the crispyness was an 8/10, chicken 5/10 a little dry, and the bun was pretty good 7/10. Overall, I would give it an 7/10. Yesterday I had some Fish and Chips. it was a very good portion size. I did a video review. I’ll attach that. but at first, a 7/10. the Cod was very good. Chips were okay could have used a higher heat on the fryer for a better crisp. After eating about half, I felt like I had just drank a cup of vegtable oil. which is probably true. So I saved the rest for later. Looking back on that experience, its no wonder there are many horizontally challenged people here. Your national dish is frier oil and carbs. I thought we were bad with our soda and burgers, but yikes. But alas. The people are very nice, even if they dont want to hear about Jesus. We have met many athiests, but everytime they are like “sorry I am actually an athiest, but have a great day! Cheers!” It has been interesting to see the different dynamics. While I may speak ill of the stereotypes, I do truly love the people here. 

In conference, President Oaks spoke of loving your enemies. When I first got my call to England, I will admit, I was slightly confused. However, I know the Lord has called me to where I am needed most, both for the peoples conversion to Christ, and for my conversion to Christ. And thinking more about being here and the culture that I am in, I know that I will change for the better. Also considering there is a large Muslim population in many cities in England, I know that one of my transfers will likely include such cities. And those truly will be a blessing to me in helping me grow closer to Christ.

The buildings here are very interesting as well. I will talk about it more in my next epistle. I have been reading in my personal study about Captain Moroni and his dealings. Because I figure, If I want to be a good Military Officer, I need to study the greats. It has been going great, I have been notating all of the desicions he had to make, as well as his atributes. Those chapters in Alma really are fascinating. 

Well, I shall go henceforth into the days of P, and onward into the forth coming days, preaching and teaching the good word. The Doctrine of Christ. Till we meet again fine chaps! Cheers!

Elder Berky

Sir “Army Performer”

The Saga Begins. A Pilot Email

Twas a dark and stormy night…

The night of my setting apart. 

All was well, the spirit was flowing, 

The lights, aglowing. 

When in came my father. Bad news he foretold.

B, (my aunts dog) has been hit, by a mobile of old. 

She will be here shortly, when arrived, her canine she gave

We said our goodbyes, and placed her in the grave. 

A dedicatory prayer I prayed. Tears were shed, for the young, young babe. 

My very first act as an elder. To dig and bless the resting place of the innocent. 

Well… that was an interesting first night. But it gets better, such is life.

Home MTC went well, boring being I was sat in front of a screen for hours at a time.

 Which isn’t nearly as fun when not playing something. But i got through it.
On Tuesday 2 weeks ago I got a call from a sergeant at my battalions S1. (Admin people) saying that my transfer to Inactive National Guard was denied because of a flag on my account. That flag being my height/weight measurements were out of regulation. So I met with them and they taped my waist/weighed me. When i first got the call. I taped myself at 42 Inches. And when the army did it a week later. I was 38.5 inches. But in order to be within regulation at my weight. I needed a waist of 37 Inches. So we set up a time for me to get checked out of the MTC in the morning before classes. And off I went on Wednesday last week to the Provo MTC. And this Monday just went back to the Army guys and got taped again. Right on the dot. 37 inches. So I passed my tape. And got the flag removed from my account. So my paperwork flew up the chain of command. And now on Monday it will be signed. So I can leave for England on Tuesday. I have my travel plans. Just gotta get through it. 

I was appointed district leader last week. And it has been busy. But fun. Two of the sisters in my district are now in the sick bay with the flu. But they should be out on Sunday. One elder had to go to the ER one night because of abnormal heart rate for 2 days straight. They said it was just inflammation, and gave him pills. He says his heart rate is down now. But still has some chest pain. Hopefully he will be fine. We gave him a blessing too. We also gave some of the sisters blessing as well. They were just feeling nervous. But that was nice.

Classes have been good. Have learned a lot. Got more to learn. I have some good goals. But I need to write them down somewhere. But I am excited. 

I love you all! And Jesus loves you too!

Elder Berky