Category: James

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

3: A very wholesome c-head We were out walking back to our apartment in 92 degree weather and 50 something % humidity. Needless to say, it was toasty. OH? A c-head is approaching? Well, he can’t tell me to drink water without getting any closer. Oh ho, come as close as you like! Sorry, point is, we came across a c-head who made sure that we were staying hydrated. He was very nice.

2: A double-booked night is a crazy night Elder Clark and I made an oopsie and double booked lessons. One with a lady we had been teaching for a while, and a less-active family. When we realized that, we scrambled to call the zone leaders, and get everything set up. It all turned out great, I had a fantastic lesson with Darcy, the investigator and Elder Clark had a great lesson/dinner with the less actives. I swear I’m not jealous of the enchilada dinner. I promise.

1: Public transport is the worst. So we wanted to go to lunch with the 2nd ward elders, but we’re kinda far apart, with no cars. So we went to Hot Mama’s Wings, but it was a 30 minute ride. It took another hour to get back by riding the bus. In short, I don’t like being poor and don’t like the bus.
Look at this big truck!

Love yall.  Ya boi,

Elder James Berky 

This week feels like it has gone waay to fast. When I woke up to my p-day alarm, i thought my phone was broken. It’s not, so here I am!

7: Eugene Saturday Market is WEIRD We found out that there was a Saturday market going on and thought it would be a great chance to go talk with people! Also I wanted to see if I could pick up something cool. I’m going to give you the highlights because detailing everything would take up the character cap of this email. Highlight reel: Lots of high people, lots of girls who have GREAT relationships with their fathers, plenty of homeless people, quite a few guitar boys entertaining everyone, a really good lemonade and chat with the stall owner, a Spider-man magnet, but no knives (What is this, England?) Elder Evans talked with a stall owner in Spanish for 45 minutes, so I just sat to the side and talked with a lady who was selling handmade paper for $20. Didn’t buy any though, because it was really crappy paper. But hey, it’s good for the environment?

6: Patrick is a cool guy Last week we found a guy named Patrick, he was the first one who opened his door to us all night, and was also the nicest person we met that night! Well, he has continued to be the nicest person! We’ve had a couple lessons with him, going over the plan of salvation, and answering all sorts of questions he has. Good dude, has plenty of Scarface memorabilia

5: Being with Elder O’Bannon again! We had exchanges with our zone leaders, and I went with Elder O’Bannon, while our companions went together. It was great to be able to tract with him again, in an actual neighborhood!

4: Cereal is too dangerous I decided to TReAt mY SeLf and buy a fat bag of fruity pebbles. Well, because cereal is too easy to make in the morning I haven’t been making good breakfasts. Also I’ve gained a couple pounds. So I’m no longer going to listen to the siren song of Fred Flintstone’s breakfast delicacy.

3: Repentance is a happy thing We’ve been talking a lot about repentance this past week. A lot of people’s perception of repentance is that it is a scary thing, and something that you should avoid. But that’s not a feeling that is of Christ. He wants you to come and change for the better, just because you slipped up once on something doesn’t mean that you can’t access the eternal power of the Atonement. That’s Satan’s line of thinking, and he’s a punk. Screw him. Repentance is really a joyous occasion, you get to be better and feel better.

2: You know what else feels better? Air Conditioning! After weeks of hot, almost sleepless nights, we decided to jerry rig an AC. It’s sketchy and ghetto AF, but hey, we can sleep at night.

1: You cannot breathe Coke. No matter how hard you try. We have been doing service for the Eugene mission, and they had several large pallets of soda. The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to open all the soda cans/bottles and pour them out so the empty cans and bottles can be recycled. Because all this soda is expired, or can’t be sold for whatever reason, a good portion of them will explode. I regretted taking a shower that morning, cause I just took one as soon as I got back to the apartment. We spent several hours breathing caffeinated air. It was a barrel of fun!

Ya boi

Elder James Berky 

I don’t have much time, so ill go over some quick stuff. 

4: Tracting has finally turned up!  After hours and hours of fruitless tracting we found Seth and Kat! A wonderful young couple who invited us in immediately! Turns out they had both been meeting with missionaries but since they had moved they lost contact. Kat loves coming to church, and the fellowship it provides! We are really looking forward to meeting with them again!

3: Somebody sure is confident  I’ve included a picture of a doorstep we were on, where they left the keys just hanging next to the door. They might be fake, or booby-trapped (doubt) but it was funny either way.

2: church was awesome! We had some great talks about listening to the prophets, and Sunday school was awesome as well. Plus we got rice crispies! 

1: addressing the title So, elder Clark woke up with a really bad migraine. So he took some pills and passed out. For 4 hours! Yaaayy, time to clean the apartment cause you can only study for so long. When he woke up, I asked him how he was doing, and he told me we were going to the Urgent Care so be could get an IV drip. We got a ride over, and he got taken care of while I watched one if those home-makeover shows on the clinic TV. I don’t think I miss TV all that much, cause they kept running the same few ads, ugh. We were only there for a few hours, and had dinner at a Mongolian grill with a Sister Cook.

Well, I’ve got to get shooping But I know this church is true, and if you follow the guidance and council of the Lord’s anointed, you will receive blessings. 

Ya boiElder James Berky 

P.S. I made a BLT by weaving the bacon strips and it was 

So this week started off great, but then just hit a brick wall.

6: Wow, look at all this graffiti  Because Eugene is a city littered with people who have too much time on their hands, there is naturally a lot of graffiti. Some really cool, and some… really lame. We see a lot of it on the bike path that we walk every day, and every time we pass this one hammer and sickle I spit on it.

5: can I buy motorcycle? Saw a nice motorcycle for sale, only $1000!! We talked to the owner of it, and he just wanted to get rid of it. Could use a little bit of tuning he said but otherwise it was fine. Dang, don’t think that President Orton would want a couple of missionaries cruising around on that type of bike.

4: How can I become an elder? We got a call on Sunday, a call from Zach who wanted to know how quickly he could become an elder. Well, the first step is baptism we told Zach at our first lesson with him. He agreed to be baptized on August 10th! He’s got some trouble under his belt, and isn’t in the best situation, but wants to change for the better. We can try to take the people out of the slums, but they’ll fall right back in. That’s why we give them the knowledge of Christ. Who will take the slums out of the people, and they in turn will take themselves to higher places.

3: Hello, is anyone home?? I wish I could have shared that message with more people this week, but for some reason, we just couldn’t find anyone to talk to!! Only one out of every ten doors would open, and those who would answer were “fine where they’re at”. Ugghh it’s fine. We were working, and that’s what matters.

2: I miss the coastal weather The Oregon coast is it’s own micro climate, where the weather never got over 70° F. It was so nice, but here it has gotten high 80’s. I’m so spoiled, but grateful, so is it really spoiled? I don’t know, I’m just tired of the spicy sun that is trying to burn my skin off.

1: Spanish missionary work is fun! Elder Clark and I were trying to figure out a way to get into this one trailer park. It says “no trespassing” and “no soliciting” etc. Normally I’ll obey the “no trespassing” because violating that could land you in court and court sucks. But this was a PHAT trailer park and we wanted to knock it anyways. Normally if we have an “appointment” set up the park management let’s us do our thing. We didn’t have an appointment, but we did have a member! Sister Garcia, don’t know her, she might be less active. So we sent, said “screw you” to the park management (only joking) and said hi to sister Garcia. She was a Spanish speaker, and didn’t know about Come Follow Me, so after briefly explaining what it is we said we’d be back with a booklet. The next day, we talk with the Spanish elders and go on splits. One set would talk to Sis. Garcia, and the other would react some janky apartments that had plenty of Latinos in our area. Win-Win!

That’s all, imma go make a dank BLT cause I’ve been craving one this past little bit.

Love ya, but the Savior loves  you more.

Ya boi Elder Berky 

This week housed the greatest day of the year! The 4th of July,  which is also Elder Clark’s birthday!

So we went out for a birthday lunch, and then when everyone’s fireworks were going off, we took a walk, enjoying them. So we spent all day playing volley ball and all I have to say is; I don’t like sand. It’s course, rough, and gets everywhere. As a result of that, I didn’t have time to put together a regular weekly. So here’s some pics.

Love ya, love the Lord. 

Ya boi Elder Berky 

P.S. I make an ugly woman

We got transfer calls, and I’m heading back to the Valley! Santa Clara, to be specific. I’ll be with the other Elder Clark, Elder Cole Clark. Elder Chris Clark (My current companion) is also leaving! He’s going up to Newport! I’m Jealous. Replacing us in this area are sisters! 

5: Packing and Cleaning time! We have been packing ever since, and cleaning. Because sisters will be taking over this apartment, we just can’t leave dirty counter tops, and unvacuumed carpets! Luckily we did that deep clean of the floors and bathroom the other week. 

4: Why isn’t anyone home? On Tuesday we were tracting for 2+ hours and only talked to 1 person! She was a member, so while that was nice, it still was a little discouraging. So we decided to head to the shops and see if we could talk to people there. It was pretty successful, we talked to plenty of people, and saw some pretty cool shops. That’s definitely one thing that I’ll be coming back to Coos Bay for, check out the shops with actual money.

3: Haircuts are very nice, especially when they’re free! I was getting a little shaggy, so I needed a hair cut, but I also wanted to save money, so I asked if any of the missionaries cut hair. Elder Weston did, and he hooked me up! Besides, even if he didn’t, the only difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut is 2 weeks. 

2: Swap Meets are fun, if you have money! Elder Hyer really wanted to go to the swap meet, and I was down. After all, Grandma and Grandpa sent me a very nice card and some cash, (thanks by the way) and I promised myself that I would buy something responsible with it. There isn’t  much responsible stuff at a swap meet, I looked for some weights. They didn’t have any, but they did have some tempting stoner hoodies and Murcia belts. But I am strong, and definitely didn’t buy an ammo box. 

1:Beach time is a good time! Because it’ll be the last day a lot of the zone will spend on the beach, naturally we were over there for a good time! I flew my kite, we played ninja, and just had a good time!

Love you all, and hope you have a great week, I’ll be emailing you next out of Santa Clara!

Ya boi Elder Berky

5: Two exchanges in one week? is that legal?

We had exchanges planned with the other Coos Bay elders, but we forgot about our exchange with the zone leaders. So we hastily scrambled and moved appointments around so we could fit both. They went like so;

4: Chris might be dead now

Elder Mooney and I were out tracting, and we saw a junkyard — I mean house that could use a little cleanup. Somtimes these kinds of houses will get a little upsetti spaghetti when you try to talk to them, so I was looking around for a “no tresspassing” sign, hoping to have an out. I didn’t see any, so we started walking up to the house. As we were picking a path through the yard, a man came out of his trailer. His name was Chris, and he was dying of heart problems. We had a great conversation about the plan of salvation, and gave him a Book of Mormon. He’s a referral over to the spirit world elders lol.

3: Exchanges with the Zone Leaders!

We did some work in both of our areas, Unfortunately Elder Weston and I didn’t really find anybody. Well I guess we ‘found’ a nice Jehovah’s Witness named George. He was nice. 

For some reason, I was the only one in the exchange who wanted to drive, so I got to drive a Nissan Rouge again! They’re nice, and I’m sure I won’t drive a car so nice ever again. 

2: Bannana Bread!

Elder Clark loves banana bread, and I’m just along for the ride. Every week he gets a bunch of bananas to brown and prepare for bread. For a whole hour our apartment smells like heaven. Then 5 minutes after it comes out of the oven, it’s gone.

1: Burning a shirt!

So the tradition when you reach 1 year is to burn a white shirt. I hit a year a couple weeks ago, but I just didn’t have the time to burn a shirt. So when we were on exchanges I brought a shirt along to burn. It was fun, we burned a lot of stuff besides shirts. It was a lot of fun. I think I posted it on instagram if you want to check out the full video. Lol, gotta get that shameless plug in.

The first chapter of Saints 2 is out! so go check it out and get hyped for history+gospel=a good book!

I know that Christ’s gospel is the only way to peace and happiness, both in this life and the one after. 

Love ya

Ya Boi Elder Berky