Elder Brady Todd Berry: Greetings from Ghana, February 21, 2011

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-21

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-21
18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
19 An if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated-
21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Greetings from Ghana, February 21, 2011

Greetings from Ghana,

Well another week just went right by and not much to show for it. But this up coming week is going to be much better I can already tell. Today I got up and washed all my cloths until my hands started to hurt, then we cleaned the apartment like an apostle of the lord is coming to our home. Well maybe not to our home but tomorrow Elder Oaks is coming to talk to our mission, and then on Wednesday he is speaking to our stake to follow up on his all African conference talk. I am praying that I don’t have to give another talk tomorrow. It should be really good though. I should have a lot to talk about next week in my letter. I don’t know if mom has talked much about the problems I have been having, but I just want everyone to know that I am doing just fine. Things here are not exactly sanitary all the time, so I have got some kind of skin stuff going on. But it is not holding me back, as far as anyone knows it is not contagious so I am not that worried anymore about giving it to my people. To go along with my skin dysfunctions, I spilled hot oil on my hand the other day and have a big burn in the shape of an “M” on my hand. But other then that I am doing just fine. I haven’t gotten sick, and haven’t had to just lie in bed all day. I am still working hard and going strong, anything that doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger! Other then that my health has been wonderful, I have started to work out, so that my pants and shirts will fit properly around my neck and waste, but now they are getting tight around my chest. I miss playing sports and just running all the time. All I do now is walk around all day. I want to play ball again, or 11 side of soccer! One day, one day!

So as my days in Africa keep growing shorter and shorter, my love for the Book of Mormon grows and grows each day. The people who actually take the time to sit down and just read this wonderful book will come to know that what we are teaching them is true. The prophet Joseph Smith wasn’t lying when he said that the Book of Mormon is the key stone of our religion. The Book of Mormon teaches us about why we need to have faith in Jesus Christ, and tells us all about the wonderful things that can come from believing in him and following his ways. It also teaches us what happens when we fall away from what is right. Before I came on my mission it was vary hard for me to just sit down and read the BOM (well anything for that matter) because I didn’t understand fully what the Book of Mormon was. Everyday I teach some one about the book. I love to contact anyone with it. But as I teach people about the book I teach them three things. 1) I teach them WHAT the Book of Mormon is. People need to understand what they are going to read before they even sit down and pick up the book to read it, or they simply won’t read it. We teach people that it is scripture and not a bible. Scripture because it contains the word of God and of his prophets. 2) People need to know HOW they are going to read this massive book. Obviously they are not going to read the whole thing in one day. So I teach them and show them right where the pages are that I want them to read and then I mark the scripture 2Ne33:1-10 and tell them to read it by the next time I come which is Sunday. If I tell someone that I want them to read 2NE chapter 33. Not many people are going to do it. They don’t know "How". They are not going to know where it is or when they should read it by. 3) Then I teach them the “WHY”. Why is this book so important for us to read? Why has this book come forth for us to read? Why will it change your life if you truly read it? This is the easiest part. There are so many examples in the Book of Mormon on why we need to read and learn about Christ. It is simple: Brady is in Africa suffering all kinds of afflictions because the Book of Mormon is the word of god. Because I have read this book and I know that it is true for me. I know that I need to share this with every one that I come in contact with, so that one day they can be blessed as I have been. I know before I came on my mission family scriptures study wasn’t high on my list of things to do because I couldn’t get out of bed at 6 am. But I know now that it is important and I can’t wait to have family scripture study. It is all about the What, How, and Why.

Thanks for everything that you are doing for me back home!

I love you all!

Elder Berry

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MAILING INFORMATION

braidbear@gmail.com

Mission Home
Elder Brady Todd Berry
Ghana Accra Mission
#6 Tenth Road
East Ridge
Accra, Ghana

Pouch
Elder Brady Berry
Ghana Accra Mission
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City. UT 84130

dearelder.com
Sends letters to the pouch for free.

Packages
Elder Brady Todd Berry
Ghana Accra Mission
P.O. Box 2585-Main
Accra, Ghana
Phone: 233 30-265-0161

Use the flat rate priority envelope, tape the corners and sides. This way the envelope goes right to the mission and he does not have to pay anything to get it. It cost around 13 dollars to send.

Elder Berry's Current Location

Brady's Third Area - Odorkor Serving with Elder Wollenzien Second Area Brady's Second Area Served with Elder Farnes -Tema, population 209,000 (2005), is a city on the Atlantic Ocean coast, east of the capital city of Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, in Ghana, West Africa. Originally a small fishing village, it grew after the construction of a large harbour in 1961 and is now is the nation's largest sea port. It is also home to an oil refinery and is an important centre of manufacturing. It is linked to the capital by railway and a highway. Tema is one of Ghana's two deep seaports; Sekondi Takoradi is the other. Tema is also the only well planned city by Ghana's first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. But in recent times, the beauty of the city is being destroyed by overpopulation stemming mainly from rural-urban migration. Tema is also called the Harbour City because of the Harbour located in Tema. Brady's First Area Served with Elder Boatneg Konongo is a city located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The city serves as the capital of the Asante Akim North District. Konogo is about 33 miles from Kumasi, the regional capital. Ghanaian international footballer Sulley Muntari was born and raised in the city, as was percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah. Konongo was a gold mining town.[1]The underground mine shafts have not been used for a long time. The population of Konongo, Ghana is 32130 according to the GeoNames geographical database. The Gold mining town of Konongo has always been a lively town. It was a very boisterous town many decades before Ghana's independence. Indeed, it was the commercial capital of the Kumasi East Council which later became the Asante-Akyem District. The Gold mines that was owned by British companies attracted many nationalities from the West African Sub-Region as well as other ethnic groups from the... KonongoGold Mine Konongo Gold Mine is a suspended open pit mine in Ghana. It mainly produced gold. In Raw Materials Data you will find production data for gold for 6 years, between 1984 and 1992. It is controlled/owned by Signature Metals Ltd Konongo Gold Mine is just one of 26 000 entities to be found in Raw Materials Data, the mining industry's most extensive database.

Temple History

The announcement of the Accra Ghana Temple by President Gordon B. Hinckley came after he had challenged members to make a special effort to fellowship new converts to the Church. "Put your arms around them, make them feel at home. Teach them the doctrines of the kingdom. Befriend them and help them in every way possible," he said. "I make you a promise that if you will do that you will be blessed with a temple in your midst."1

The day of the announcement, at an outdoor gathering of some assembled members in Accra's Independence Square, President Hinckley said, "You've gone a long time without a temple. When I was here five years ago [as a member of the First Presidency], we tried to find a place to build a temple. We didn't find anything and we didn't say anything to anybody. But efforts Monday, February 16, were more fruitful. This morning we approved the purchase of a beautiful piece of ground," President Hinckley announced.2

Ground was broken on Friday, November 16, 2001. Intended to begin at 8:00 that morning, the ceremony was delayed 45 minutes while awaiting the arrival of the Vice President who had returned earlier that morning from New York and graciously accepted an invitation to attend. The combined Christiansborg and Lartebiorkoshie stake choir thrilled the waiting crowd with inspiring music. Upon his arrival, the ceremony commenced; and Elder Nelson gave the concluding remarks. Groundbreaking followed with participation by Elder Nelson, the Vice President, stake presidents, and other dignitaries. The event was covered by a local radio station and Ghana Television.3

Fifteen months after presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Accra Ghana Temple, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles returned to the construction site while on assignment to Ghana and Nigeria in February 2003. Ghanian Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who broke ground for the temple with Elder Nelson, met with the apostle in the Osu Castle. Elder Nelson says, "We have a very good relationship."4

One of the MM emailed this out and I was touched by it.

Elder Bednar learns about fasting in Africa

"A sister in Africa was teaching a class about fasting. Now, this was in a place in Africa where they're not starving but they're hungry most of the time. They would probably have about one meal a day as we understand it. This woman was teaching the sisters in Relief Society and she said, "Sisters, there are many days when we do not have food and we do not eat. That is not fasting. It's only fasting on a day when we have food and we can choose not to eat it."

At the time I was fifty-four years old, a member of the church since I was eight, and an apostle for two years. I had to go to Africa to learn from a woman who had joined the church just eight months earlier what it really meant to fast."

What a blessing it is for our sons to serve among these humble, faithful people!