Me voy a Barrio 8!!

Hola mi familia y amigos!!!

Wow what a week!!! Today are transfers and I am in Barrio 8 with Hermana Spencer!! What a dream area. I had actually really wanted to come here.. And plus my new comp is an angel!! I'm so excited for a fresh new start with a brand new area!! Things will be different, hard, new challenges but.... I am super content. I get to go to the church by the temple and MTC.. Ahhh I'm so excited for this transfer. 😊
I loved, loved my time in Alcorcón and boy am I going to miss those people!! It's hard to explain all that I have learned these last 4 transfers and I'm so excited to grow even more! These last two weeks I've been praying that I could see certain people that I hadn't for a while so I could feel satisfied leaving that area.  Well once again I have had my prayers answered.  Within like 3 days I kept running into people that had been in the back of my mind for a while.  It was really cool to see that like always Heavenly Father knows are thoughts, weaknesses and strengths. I was really grateful to see blessings this week right before I left.

Speaking of prayers, yesterday as I was packing up, I panicked because I couldn't remember where my passport was.  I quickly went on my knees and asked for help. Yup, 5 seconds later found it. Last night I couldn't find my metro pass, I prayed, 5 seconds later I found it.  I looked at Hna Whiting and just started crying and said "I JUST LOVE PRAYERS OKAY!?" hahahahaha.

Last night I said goodbye to the branch I've been serving in for the last 6 months.  It was hard but it was cool to realize how much these people loved me and how much I loved them.  I really have learned so much from these members and investigators as well.  I feel so blessed from Heavenly Father! It is so awesome to see even though were hard times, he was able to show me the fruits of my work in Alcorcón.  I love this gospel so much.  I love learning more about it every day.

Sorry this is short.. But I better go start unpacking!! Thanks for all of the support! I will send some pictures from this week. :) The Elders had a baptism with a very special lady.  It was a perfect way
to end my time there!!
Con mucho Amor,
Hermana Berry

España es el lugar donde quiero estar.

Hola everyone!!

     Right now I am sitting in McDonoald's in Madrid, eating a frambuesa macaron, writing my family, and remembering how cool it is to be here.  Not only do I get to learn about the richness of the gospel, but I get to eat gourmet pastries in a European McDonalds.....Oh and look at Sword stores, and walk by 100 of years old buildings, enjoy the culture of Spain, and hang out with Hermanas from around the world.  I AM THE LUCKIEST WOMAN EN EL MUNDO!! 🇪🇸

     We had another great week!! It was definitely a week of learning as well.  This week is most likely my last week here in Alcrocón because four transfers in one area is usually the max.  I have a lot of mixed feelings about it.  I am going to miss the memories and members so much but I'm thinking that it is time for a change for me.  I decided to start collecting all of my "happy thoughts" that we do every night and write them all down in a journal starting with my first transfer here.  This has really helped me to visualize my progression, remember the good times I've had, and all of the things I have learned from different people.  I have been very nervous about where my next adventure/area will be, but I have no choice but to put all of my trust in the Lord that everything will be okay.

     Here are just a few things that I have studied/learned this week:  

*You are never alone.  Jesus Christ has literally felt everything you have gone through.  Things can get hard but that is what this earth life is about.  He knows how we feel and wants to comfort us.  We can feel his love and this peace more when we obey the commandments.  I have increased my knowledge in this through the Book Of Mormon. Oh yeah!! 

*An Apostasy of the gospel of Jesus Christ happened thousands of years ago.  But it has been truly restored to the earth by a prophet named Joseph Smith.  There is only one reason I am in Spain this very moment.  And it is because I know that this is the true and only living church of God.  No matter what happens in our day, it always comes down to one thing.  I love this gospel so much, and I know that is the real restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  I would not be in Spain right now if I didn't know that.

*The temple is a wonderful place to be. When we are there doing the work for the Lord, we can seriously receive answers to our prayers. We went to the temple this week and something I read there really helped me.  I am so grateful for the scriptures!!

 Mormon 9:19-21 

19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

     Here is a small wrap up of the fun things we did this week!!

*We visited/said goodbye to my favorite old Spanish lady, Felisa.  She is such a doll and loves when we visit her!  She told me that she hopes her grandson finds a girl like us. (What? Aww) she was in tears when we left. She. Is. So. Precious.  

*2 jovens in the rama(branch), are so excited to prepare to serve missions!  Roberto and Rolando.  One is a recent convert and the other one isn't even baptized yet! They're great.

*We had a lesson with an old investigator that we found from the area book who turned out to be pretty golden! He already keeps like 3 of the big commandments..hmm so I like this guy.

*I taught a family how to make crêpes. Mmm.. That was fun.

Keep it real, safe, and awesome.  I love this gospel, missionary work, and Spain!!!!

Love you all and have a a GREAT week!!!!

 

¡Qué cosa más rubia!

   Hola mi querdia familia!!!  Ahhh what a great week we had! Missions are so amazing. Sigh, I just love it.  It started off with a great district meeting we had on Wednesday!  As missionaries we all have weaknesses but there is nothing too weak that the Lord can't strengthen.  He knows that there are moments that seem hard for us, but he is there to help us because we are his servants "gathering his sheep."  Although I have had some really stressful moments here, I have never felt his love more stronger.  

     Earlier this week I studied the talk "The Comforter" given by Pres. Eyring this last general conference.  He talks about how the Holy Ghost is there to feel comfort in hard moments we experience in life.  In that talk he said there are people praying every night for their burdens to be lifted.  We need to reach out to people in times of need because sometimes we are the ones who help comfort them. I had an intercambio with Hermana Sykes in Leganés this week.  We were both able to help each other various struggles we were going through.  I know that when we follow the spirit, we really can help people find the answer to their prayers.  She talked about Ether 12. I love this chapter!! Especially verse 27: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." It is so true!  What ever weaknesses we have, they can turn into strengths when we look to Christ with faith.  I encourage you all to try this, and be patient in your trials.  He always has something better in store for us.  We just need to trust in his plan.

     SATURDAY WAS ABOUT SERVICE.  Saturday was just great.  We felt like we really worked hard and truly tried to talk to a lot of people!  In the morning we had a street lesson with an old cute Spanish lady who was sitting on a bench.  She told us a really cool story.  But first I need to give a background story.  My first transfer here,  I saw a homeless man with a long beard and very matted hair who slept inside a bank.  We would see him every day on our morning run.  I didn't think much of it, just that his situation was pretty sad. But some days we tried avoiding him because he appeared to be always drunk.  Okay back to the story with the old lady on the bench.  She goes on to tells us a story about a homeless man, who has a beard, very matted hair, and used to sleep in a bank.  One day she sat by him and offered to buy him water.  He said no, that he already had money.  A couple days later she sees him again and tries to offer something again.  He says no.  He looks to her and says "Do you have any grandchildren?"  So she pulls out a picture of her grandchildren.  And do you know what he did next? He pulled out his wallet and handed her €10.  Yes, I started to cry later when I figured out what she said in Spanish.  Oh my gosh what an example of the pure love of Christ!!!

     Sunday.  Oh my goodness, we had thee best testimony meeting in Sacrament.  All of the youth went to EFY in Segovia for a week.  Yesterday, they all shared their testimonies.  It was so fun to hear how their testimonies were so strengthened.  A lot of them are recent converts.  One of the boys named Charly bore his testimony. It was so cute because he is usually super shy.  Also one of them is actually one of our investigators!  He is the 17 year old boy I wrote about a couple weeks ago.  He has been an investigator for over year but has been waiting for his 18th birthday to be baptized so he instead of having to ask permission from his parents.  Well he goes up there and shares his testimony about how he lost his scriptures the last day at EFY and was pretty upset about it. He prayed to find it and then found it!! He said he could feel the spirit there so much.  Yesterday he was fasting to know if he should get baptized sooner!! Oh my gosh we were such happy missionaries yesterday.  He is such an incredible kid.  What teenager who isn't baptized, goes to EFY and prays to find his scriptures!? Exactly.  It was such a cool meeting.  Yes I was crying.  Also, one my favorite members, Eva, bore her testimony!! It was so awesome to hear it.  We are all in different stages with testimonies of Christ, and that's why it's important to share ours with others to help strengthen theirs.

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!!!

Love you all and thank you for the support!!!!

Con mucho Amor,

Hermana Sydney Berry.

 

 

Disfrutando las bendiciones y Las bendiciones de gozo

This last week I was a little overwhelmed with things.  I decided to ask for a priesthood blessing for  comfort.  Earlier that I day I prayed to Heavenly Father exactly what I wanted to hear from him.  My zone leader blessed me with every single thing that I prayed for.  Something that really stuck out to me was that there will come a time that I will really enjoy my time here.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely have!  But sometimes it can be hard to not focus on your weaknesses.  Well anyway, I just simply wanted to say that Heavenly Father does love us.  He knows our weaknesses, comforts us, and reminds us that he is there to help us accomplish the perfect plan he has for us.  This last week I really have been able to find joy; even in the simple things.  I am so grateful for the priesthood and for the many special opportunities I have had here on my mission. I have been able to feel a personal love not only for God and my Savior but love from them as well.

Edith, our recent convert is doing great!  We've watched some church movies with her that she loved.  You could totally tell that she felt the Holy Ghost.  It's the best!! Haha.  I did an intercambio win Hna Vasas (love her) from Móstoles because her comp and mine had to both go to a leadership meeting.  Well anyway I was a bit nervous because this was my first time I had ever been the senior companion.  I was a little worried about my Spanish, but it turned out just fine!  It's weird when you find out that there's a lot more things you have learned than you think.  Although sometimes I want to hit my head in my desk, I am very grateful to be learning Spanish!! It is such a blessing.

I'm continuing to love the members we visit here in Alcorcón.  It's strange to think that I will be leaving in just a few weeks to my new area! I will definitely miss it, but I think it will be time for me to leave. So we got a new mission leader!! He is a recent convert and is absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to start getting help again from the branch.

We are getting better at talking to more people on the streets.  And although a lot of people don't want to listen, it is always a good feeling when you do everything you should be as a missionary.  Everyday there's difficulties, but at the same time, there is a blessing in every day!  This week I've been studying more about the apostasy.  I am very convinced that if any member were to really study the Apostasy and understand how the priesthood was taken off the earth, everyone would want to serve a mission! Just a theory, haha.  

Everyone have a great week!

Con mucho Amor,

Hermana Berry

Xoxo

Y'ALL know what Y'ALL means?

   This week's wrap up: A BAPTISM, meeting President and Hermana Pack, zone conference, family tree app, and I'M 6 MONTHS OLD!

     Well first off..... EDITH GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! Saturday was such a special day for this special lady.  Edith is such an amazing miracle! We didn't find her, she found us.  We met her June 7th, so not too long ago.  She moved here from Honduras; leaving her family-her parents, siblings, 4 year old son and her boyfriend to come and work to make money for them.  She has sacrificed a lot, and so we were really happy to help her get baptized. It had been something she
wanted for a while. She had been already taking discussions in Honduras, and so she was well prepared!  Well, we finally were able to have a baptism for her on Saturday.  The spirit was so strong and she knew that she was making the right choice.  I wish you could've seen her face, she was radiating with joy.  On Sunday, when she got confirmed-received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you could really tell how happy she was.  Here on my mission, I have witnessed a physical change in people after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Those who have this gift should never forget and incredible of a blessing it is! 😃. I am so grateful to have access of the restored priesthood of God here upon the earth.  I know that with all of my heart that it is the correct authority of God.

     Hermana Whiting and I did a small musical number and both gave a talk at the baptism.  (Yeah us Hermanas didn't get out of anything jaja 😑). The song was actually pretty fun to sing! We sang  Joseph Smith's first Prayer", but the last 3 verses were to the tune of "Come thou Fount."  This is one of my favorite hymns in Spanish.  I was a tiny bit nervous to give my talk about baptism because it was my first talk ever in Spain....  So that was bad enough but then I found out the new mission President and his wife would be attending the baptism!! They were already there to have missionary interviews, so they decided to attend their first baptism! So that was a little scary, but it ended up not being too bad!! I learned new things about baptism by preparing the talk! And guess what! My companion said my Spanish was good.. And so did President Pack later that night in my interview. Yay!! I'm actually progressing! Jaja. ☺️

     Earlier this week we first met President and Hermana Pack at out zone conference, Bueno, the "mission tour."  We met them and they talked about their family so we could get to know them better.  They are from Mississippi and Hermana Pack has a cute southern accent. When she first started speaking she said, "Ya'll know what y'all means right?" Haha it was funny.  They talked about the story of Peter, how he started to walk to Christ on the water but his faith was tested when he looked up in the waves.  This was perfect for me because sometimes, I have so much faith but I am only able to see "the waves." I was grateful for this meeting we had because it was just what I needed to hear.  I'm grateful for the little hard times here on my mission, because that is what makes me get on my knees and really plead with my God and savior to help me.  I know that he has a perfect plan for me, and for all of you too. 😊

     Okay, before I make this any longer and bore ya'll.. (Haha see what word I used there) I just wanted to say how cool the family history app is!! Now that we have iPads, we have easy access to do look through our family tree which has lots of pictures and stories of our ancestors.  One of my ancestors named Danielson Buren Barney, was baptized in Nauvoo, in the Mississippi River by Joseph Smith.  He said that he might've been the last person to be baptized by The Prophet
Jospeh Smith himself.  This was really cool for me to read because I felt like I have personal connection with The prophet of the restoration! I want to encourage all my Barney family to do some
family research, their stories are incredible, and it's so amazing to read their testimonies.

     Last thing,  I  CANNOT BELIEVE I AM 6 MONTHS OLD!!  It's crazy to think that this next transfer I will probably be going to my first new area!  The last couple of weeks I have been a little hard on myself because I was only able to focus on my weaknesses.  But my sister emailed me and shared the scripture in Alma about "..by small and simple things are great things come to pass.." Wow, it really is true. I started looking at my MTC journal and realized I really have grown a lot!  Something that made me smile was when we saw President Lovell, my favorite (my MTC pres) outside of our Zone Conference, and looked at all of the sisters there and said, "You know what, there really isn't an Hermana here in Madrid that isn't perfect."  Oh my gosh I love him!  He is such a special person to me.  So anyway, I've learned this week that even though there are so many things I think I can't do, there are more things that the Lord knows I can do,  I just need to put all my trust in him!

LOVE YOU ALL AND CONTINUE TO ENJOY SU VERANO!

Hermana Sydney Berry

Ateos, seafood, baptisms, and Enrique vs Henry

Hola mis amigos!!!!

Hope you guys are enjoying the summer and taking advantage of the ac!! Missionary life in the streets of Alcorcón are HOT!! But it's all good, we had a pretty solid week here I'd say. 😎. I love that as a missionary we have so many opportunities to learn and grow everyday. Everyday I overcome small challenges, and every week I am able to see how much I have grown!  This week something I learned is the importance of applying what we learn from the scriptures in our lives!! I have been reading in 3 Nefi when Christ comes to the Americas.  Chapter 13 is buenisimo!!  I love how he gives the same sermon to the Nephites as he did in Jersulem.  This really shows how much he truly loves everyone.  Reading from the Book of Mormon more diligently has really helped me develop a better relationship with Jesus Christ.  I love it!  The lord said that we will know by the "fruits of the trees" if a church is truly is the real church of Christ.  The Book of Mormon is a fruit of this church.. It helps us to know if this is the true church.  I know that it is.

This week we had a lesson with the Athiest (ateo) that we found about 3 weeks ago.  I asked him if he read the chapter in the BOM we assigned to him earlier.  He said he did.  I said wow! The whole chapter!? "Yes, the whole book.  I read the whole entire book." WHAT!??? This man who doesn't believe in God read the WHOLE BOOK?? but.  He read it without a sincere heart.  We were so excited to hear that he read all of it,  yet he still was sure there is no God.  This just goes to show the importance of doing the all 3 things of Moroni's promise: read with a sincere heart, ponder, and then pray to know if it is true.  Without a sincere heart and a desire to receive an answer, of course God won't answer you.  But we are still having faith with him.  We showed him the Mormon message about the man who didn't believe in God but now does.. If you haven't seen that, I highly recommend it!

Enrique vs Henry... So we have been working out of the area book this last week and we contacted an old investigator named Enrique.  All we knew about him was that he was from the Dominican Republic and he is an English teacher.  Another day we went to visit a less active members and we met her friend Henry.  Henry is from the Dominican Republic too, and speaks English as well. Enrique didn't show up for his appointment and then yesterday our lesson with Henry failed as well.  Earlier yesterday I was saying how I had just realized that Enrique is Spanish for Henry. Well long story short, Hna Whiting's says.. What if Henry and Enrique were the same person? Yup.. They turned out to be the same person, and we still haven't had a lesson with him. Hahah just a random highlight of our week.

Good news!! This Saturday we are supposed to have Edith's baptism!! (She is the one from Honduras) we have another baptism date with another investigator as well.  So yay!! Things are happening in Alcorcón!! ☺️☺️. This Friday we get to meet our new President and his wife and family!! They are from Mississipi (no Mom, not from Utah) haha. They seem great!!
Today for Pday we went to Hna Whiting's old area and we ate at my old MTC teachers house with his family.  His name is Hermano Santana.  I will attach the pic. 😀

Have a fantastic week!!
Love, Hermana Berry.

P.s. The other picture is of me with one of my favorite members named Beatrice.  She went to Ecuador for vacation so I had to say goodbye unfortunately.  I love her so much.

"I'm a big kid now" I mean adult....

  Who would've thought that I would spend my last days of being a teenager, on a mission in Spain!? I had such a fun day on Friday, my companion made it really special!  One of our cute investigators' 19th birthday was on the 3rd of July as well, so we made homemade pizza with her and her sisters and watched Mormon messages for youth. It was so fun!! We also decorated a box and put cute scriptures inside.  You should've seen how happy she was when we gave it to her.  Later that day a member surprised me with cake and snacks at her house.  And then to top things off, a less active lady we visit from Nigeria, she and her friend took us to a Chinese restaurant!! It was a very special day and thank you for everyone who sent birthday wishes!!

    Yesterday we had transfers and I am staying here in Alcorcón with Hermana Whiting!!  I'm really glad because there is a lot of work to do and didn't want to leave the members and our investigators just yet!  Today is the first day of transfer 4 for me!  I cannot believe that this is my 4th transfer.  This month I will turn 6 months and it is seriously insane how fast the time has gone.  It seems like I just
got here in Spain but at the same time it feels like i have lived in Alcorcón forever haha.

    This week was interesting because we started meeting with old investigators that I first met my 1st transfer here but they suddenly disappeared.  One of those people is a man from Nigeria.  He was one of our progressing investigators I had with Hermana Marsh & Finch.. But he one day just moved to the South of Spain. The other day Hermana Whiting and I found him walking on the street the same day he came back to live here again.  We have been meeting with him and he wantsto get baptized still! Woo!

    Oh also!! Our miracle lady from Honduras who was about to get baptized but then suddenly  moved.... Has returned.  We were really sad to see her leave, but she has come back and we have another baptism date with her.  So that is super exciting!!

This week's highlights:

*At our District meeting on Wednesday, the Elders and Hermanas in Móstoles sang to me and gave me a piece of cake for my birthday. 😊😊

*We had a lesson with one of our very progressing investigators who is a 17 year old Spanish boy. He is not like most of the Spanish teenagers here.  He is a very good example to me and brought a whole new meaning of "obeying the commandments."  He has been investigating the church for about a year now thanks to his girlfriend who introduced him to it.  His parents aren't interested and so he is the only one in his family who comes to church on Sunday's.  In our lesson he talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy.  He told us that he only gets to see his dad one day a week, which are on  Sunday's.  His dad wanted to take him to the pool, but he said he couldn't because it was the Sabbath.  Wow, what a great example to me.  It's hard enough to keep small commandments even when your family does!  But here he is telling his Dad he'd rather keep the Sabbath day holy than go swimming even when the temperature is above 100 degrees.  Keeping the commandments, even small ones,  always bring blessings.

*On Thursday we had a lesson with a member who has recently started coming back to church, thanks to a miracle me and Hermana Finch had 2 transfers ago. (A different story of how we re-activated her) This lady is from Peru, and she is such a sweet woman.  She served a mission, has a cute little daughter, and is going through a divorce. She is a great example to me as well.  She is  happy even when going through a tough time in her life. We made cinnamon roll cake with her and then watched the Mormon Message about courage about Esther from the bible.  She really appreciated the video, and I'm so glad we were able to help her last week.

*We ate tortilla de patata for the 4th of July at a members house on Saturday...and for the Elders... They had to eat whole Crabs!!!! It was hard enough to have to hear the cracking of the bones... Eww it was so gross. I'm so happy they didn't make me eat it! Phew!

Have a great a week and enjoy the summer!!
Con mucho Amor,
Hermana Berry