Elder Brady Todd Berry: April 4, 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, April 4, 2011

April 4, 2011

Greetings from Ghana

This last week, on Monday night, we went to have family night with my old companion (Elder Farnes) and some of his converts that he baptized. We took one of our investigators named Hisha. So during the family night it was just like any other family night, we sang a hymn, said a prayer, and the missionaries gave the lesson. We had a nice lesson on the importance of families and how the best way to learn the gospel is in the home. Remember that in Ghana the best way to get education is to send your kids away to boarding school. So parents usually send there kids off to school like at 13 years old. So we taught them the importance of staying together as a family in order to fight the battle TOGETHER. Every one seemed to understand and it helped Hisha understand the importance of a good family. (Hisha is not married and has one child by herself.)

After the lesson I was called on to give my favorite hymn for the closing song. My mind went to some of my favorite hymns like hymn 2, or 85. But when I opened my hymn book it opened right to hymn number 294. When I read the title it was like something stuck me right in the heart. I suddenly felt like the lesson we just taught wasn’t good enough unless we sang the hymn I just opened to. If you don’t know hymn 249 is "Love at Home". There was a spirit there that night that was stronger than I have ever felt. As I reflected on how blessed I have been with such an Amazing family! I knew that I wasn’t the only one that felt that way, because when we sang the 3rd verse, Sista Evealind began to cry when we sang "oh there is one who smiles on high, when there is love at home". Nothing is truer then what this hymn taught each of us that night. It was then that I realized how important families are! Mom sorry it took me 19 1/2 years to see that.

Well on the other hand, we are teaching this boy named Cliff Black who is19. Cliff came to church this Sunday and after church he told me that the church is true and he wants to join us. But for Cliff he has nothing. He doesn’t have a family to go home to every night. He doesn’t even have a home. He works at an old car body shop where he sleeps on a card board box in the shop. The man he works for doesn’t pay him much, if at all. Some nights when we go to teach him he is not there because he is out trying to find something to eat. To my surprise Cliff is one of the only people here that hasn’t asked me for money or told me to take them to live in America. But he is one of the most correct people I have taught! Ever since we have given him the Book of Mormon we don’t even teach lessons any more we just go over to explain what he has read and to help him understand what is going on. If everything goes well we will be baptizing him on the 30 of this month!

Isaac is a man about 52 who also come to church. We have been working with him for a while now. He has had a problem with the word of wisdom (like half of Ghana) but he hasn’t drank for a while, and he is progressing. So hopefully everything goes well with him, and he can be baptized at the end of the month.

I love my family! Best family around! I miss you guys! I hope everyone took the opportunity to listen to conference. I will get to in about a month when we get the DVD version. Ha! Ha! We are a little behind the times here.

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!