I'm going to become a vegetarian

All the weeks are mixing together. We are teaching a lot of people and walking a lot. And I mean a lot. Our house is on the edge of our area so we have to walk 30 minutes downhill to get to the Church (middle of the area) and then a huge uphill climb to get back home. But it’s got a great view.

So real quick, we found some awesome families to teach this week. Eudes is really excited though and loves learning about Jesus Christ and how to pray. It is so amazing to see the change in people, to see them learn about their loving Heavenly Father and how they can talk to Him. I love it! Eudes and Valeria are super cool, but have a lot of addictions. They smoke, drink lots of coffee, and Valeria drinks a lot of alcohol too. But it is also really sad to see so many people held back by addictions that so many people have today.

We talked to one lady who told us that all she thinks about it smoking and has to count the minutes to make sure she doesn’t smoke even more than she does. It’s horrible to be held back by these things. I am so grateful for all I have learned in this Church, for all that I am learning about how to be healthy. That reminds me, I feel like I need to go vegetarian when I get back home because I have eaten enough meat here in Brazil to last a lifetime.

I also read an amazing talk this week: How to Become a Consecrated Missionary. Something that I loved was that it talked about spiritual confidence. We have confidence in ourselves when we rely completely on the Lord. It’s strange how that works, but it’s true. When we realize and remember that everything is in the Lord's hands, and that He knows what is best for us, we are more confident and happier in life. It’s amazing. So I am going to work on trusting the Lord completely, so I can have spiritual confidence.

Have a fantastic week everyone! Remember to say your prayers, too. I know they make all the  difference.

Love Sister Berry

The Gift of Grace

View from the Church (3rd floor)

This has been a great week, a lot of things happened, but nothing at the same time. It’s just crazy how time flies. Well, I had the opportunity to go on a division with another sister in the zone, which was really fun. Sister Cordner is from Utah and we just had a great time talking about Disneyland, movies, the language, and everything. It’s great to talk with someone from your own country every once in a while. We also had another meeting with the President where I got to see a bunch of old friends again! I just love missionaries! AND I finally got some Liahonas and the one from General Conference. I am so excited to read all of it. I am so grateful for living prophets and apostles that tell us what we need to know in our day and age. Heavenly Father loves all of us!

Speaking of love, I wanted to talk a little bit about it. I was getting super down this week, thinking about home a little too much maybe, or thinking about all the ways that I have failed, and things that I need to do better. Something amazing happened though, as it always does. I remembered/felt that Heavenly Father still loves me. I can feel His love as I look at a beautiful sunrise, as I sing "How Firm a Foundation," or read the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Even though I am not perfect, He loves me. My Savior loves me. He knows me, and is there to take away my pains and sorrows.

I loved President Uchtdorf’s talk this conference, “The Gift of Grace.” I finally understood something about the Atonement: The Savior already died for my sins, and paid for my sorrows. The Grace of God has already saved me, so I don’t need to worry about that. The important part now is if I have been changed by grace. President Uchtdorf tells us that we keep the commandments of God because we love Him. So that is all I need to worry about. I just have to keep moving forward and doing my best. I love the Lord, so I will do the best I can to follow Him and do what He asks. I won’t be perfect, but as long as I get back up when I fall, it will be enough. Always remember the love God has for you. It can change your life if you let it.

Have a fantastic week!

Sister Berry

"And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."

The time goes by so slow and so fast at the same time. I have only less than a year to be a missionary! I know it will fly by, so I have to soak it up and enjoy every day.

So this last week was transfers and Elder Potts went home. We had a great Family Home Evening Night with almost half the ward, and a lot of food. This ward is just amazing! I wish I could finish my mission here. Sister Larissa and I are still here in Boa Vista and loving it. I never want to leave. And this morning we made some delicious American food. Elder Clive made French toast and he has some Mrs. Butterworth’s Maple Syrup from home (they don’t have syrup here) and it was amazing!  Elder Correia made some Peach Cobbler that was surprisingly good. And tomorrow I’m going to make some Mac and Cheese for lunch, it’s going to be great.

Well, I can’t even remember what happened this week. It went by really, really fast. My comp was sick one day this week so we had to stay home. Staying at home all day with a sick companion is not fun, besides getting to take a nap in the afternoon maybe. I did get to study a lot though. I just finished Philippians in the New Testament and it was really good. I love the scriptures. There’s a great scripture in chapter 4 verses 6-8. I love the part

”But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep you hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Remember that God is listening and wants to bless you, you just have to ask. And be grateful for what you have. I always think of the song “You cant always get what you want...But if you try sometimes... you just might find...You get what you need." Yup. that’s how life works sometimes. Just remember that your Heavenly Father knows you and He knows what you need to become the best person that you can be. It’s amazing. Alright, and scriptural One liner of the week is in Proverbs 16:20...

"And whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."

Be strong and pray always,

Sister Berry

Te Agradeço

This has seriously been one of the best transfers yet. I love my companion, the Elders in the ward, the ward, and the area. I have been so blessed! I also know that I still have so many opportunities in front of me. I am so grateful for the love of the Lord and all of the little things that I see that help me to remember His love. I know my Heavenly Father loves me! And that is such a great feeling. I am trying to stay focused and happy so I can show our investigators what their lives could be like. Things are going really great now, but I know that it won't always be that way. I am trying to learn how to be happy no matter what the circumstance. I know that true happiness comes when our lives are focused on Jesus Christ and the things that He taught. It is really hard to be a missionary, but I am so happy!! It is so hard to explain, but I love it.

We had some great experiences this week too. The people that we are teaching are awesome and I love 'em. Let me tell you about Enildo and Marina. The Elders made a contact with him first and gave us his address. One day we decided to visit to see if we could teach him and his family. We get there and start talking to him and his wife, but he was rude and just told us he was too busy to talk to us and that if he had known that we would come he wouldn’t have given the Elders his address. We normally wouldn’t visit them again but his wife Marina was more interested. So after a few days we finally were able to sit down together and teach them.

Enildo doesn’t really have any religion and doesn’t pray or read the bible or anything. Marina can’t read but she says her prayers. It was super difficult to get Enildo to say the prayer the first time, but he finally did it. We visited them this week and we were talking about the importance of prayer, because Enildo still wasn’t saying his daily prayers. We asked him to pray to start our lesson. With a lot of coaxing, Sister Larissa spoke the first words for him to repeat "Pai Celestial... te agradeço…" And after that he said the prayer, and you could tell that it really touched him this time. It wasn’t the first one he had said with us, but I think it was the first one where he really knew that someone was listening. After that he just loves us and is so much nicer than the first time we met him. It is amazing to see the power of the Spirit and Prayer in other people's lives. There are countless more experiences just like this one. I love being a missionary!!

I got more letters this week! Thank you so much Family! Mom, I loved all the things you said about the Sao Paulo show you watch. Yes, you should totally learn how to make feijoada!! It is so good :) And another good thing you should try: avocado smoothie. Mix some avocados, milk, and some sugar in a blender = super delicious! It is a little strange at first but it’s super good.

So today for Pday…we went to the Sao Paulo zoo! It was awesome! By the way, I love elephants and giraffes and flamingos. It’s pretty awesome all the things that Heavenly Father made for us. The world is beautiful!

I love you all! Try and notice the little things in life that make you happy. Notice the tender mercies of the Lord. They are there!!

Love ya!

Sister Berry

Two Baptisms!

Hello!!

I don’t have a lot of time this week so I’m going to try and sum all this up. Well, I just want to say that I love the area that I’m in and the people here in this area. This ward is mostly made up of converts and they are so strong. It is so amazing to see so many people willing to help the work move forward. I love it here!

An amazing thing that happened this week was we had 2 baptisms! I think I talked about Sandra and Igor, how the Elders have been teaching them for a long time. Well, they got baptized on Saturday. It was a great experience. I thought of the quote that Beth sent me, “There is no such thing as a homesick missionary at the baptismal font." It is so true.

The Elders are just great too. They were so happy and Igor and Sandra were so happy. It was just awesome to see everyone full of joy. Igor and Sandra just took a huge step in their lives. They were washed clean of all of their sins, and took upon themselves the name of Christ.

Oh I love this gospel. I love my Savior and all that I have because of Him. That reminds of a video that I LOVE.  https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng   Watch it!

 I love being a missionary!

And I love you.

Tchau gente, falou

Sister Berry

Temples, Family, and Love

Oi people :)

Well, I am really happy because so many awesome things happened this week. Wednesday, all the missionaries in the mission had the opportunity to go to the temple either in Campinas or Sao Paulo, and it was amazing. I love the temple so much. The Campinas temple is so beautiful, and it was so peaceful. The temple is truly a house of the Lord.

Sister Larissa and I at the Campinas Temple

After going to the temple and getting a spiritual recharge we were able to have a fantastic week teaching people. I can really feel the strength of the Lord in my life and I love it!

Thank you for the letter from the YSA Surprise Stake! I loved it!

Mother's day! I got to see my family on Skype! Woo hoo! It was so amazing to see all of them. I love my family. I’ve been thinking a lot about happiness and the love of God. God loves every single one of us and He wants us to be happy. However, it’s not always easy for us to be happy all the time. But it should be. I’m focusing on choosing to be happy NOW and in every circumstance. I can be happy no matter what if I trust in the Lord and focus on Him and the things that really matter.

I am so grateful for the opportunity we have to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my Savior, and I just want to make Him proud.

Remember that you are amazing!

Love, Sister Berry

Climbing Mountains

Hello Everyone!

Well this has been another great week in Brazil. So much stuff happened! Some updates: Sister Larissa and I are getting to know the area a little better. It’s a little hard to find an address though--hardly any of the streets have name plaques, so we have to talk to everyone to ask the names of the streets. But like I said, we are learning our way around.

By the way, it’s getting cold here. The nights are freezing now, but I love it. It makes me feel like its Christmas... but it’s not so it’s also a little sad. I like the cold though.

This week we had the amazing opportunity to have a mission conference with the Sao Paulo North mission to hear from Elder Marcos A. Aidukatis and Elder L. Whitney Clayton and their wives. It was so awesome! And the talks were absolutely perfect. I really liked the talk by Sister Aidukatis. She talked about the scripture 2 Nephi 25:26...

"We talk of Christ, we preach of Christ, we rejoice in Christ..."

It is all about Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer and that I get to tell others about Him every single day. That is why I am here.

Another cool thing Elder Aidukatis and Elder Clayton did was they took the time to shake all of our hands and wanted to know where we were from. It’s great to feel the love.

I was also able to see a bunch of old friends in the mission and some of the elders that were in my MTC district. It was awesome. 

We did an awesome hike for our p-day today. I almost died getting to the top, but it was so worth it. There was so much fog and it was sprinkling a little bit too. The view was so amazing! “Heavenly Father did a good job.” And I saw a Hummingbird. I know Heavenly Father loves me.

We had an amazing lesson with the other Elders in our area this week. We watched the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie (SUPER good, you have to watch it). It’s kind of a long story with these investigators, Sandra and Igor, but to sum it up a bit, they’ve been investigating the church for a long time but they still haven’t gotten baptized. So after the film, we all bore our testimonies- that we know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and the only place to find true happiness. But what I loved was the testimony of Elder Correia. The Spirit was so strong, and he told Igor that we missionaries would not be giving all our time, our lives, to this church if it wasn’t true. Joseph Smith wouldn’t have died for something that wasn’t true, and that he didn’t believe in with his whole heart.

I am here because the Church is true. Christ lives and loves us. I am so grateful to be a missionary. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven.

Sister Berry