Week 36 : FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! ( Dec. 22,2014)

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!!

Hola todos. So transfers were this week and I received a new companion.  Her name is Hermana Paul and she is from Pennsylvania.  She is awesome!!  I´m soooo excited for this transfer.  This week was just awesome.  She brought some great ideas for the area and I can just feel that things are going to take off.

We had an awesome lesson with a family that we´ve been teaching for about 2 transfers.  We taught them about Jose Smith and the Book of Mormon finally (they are kind of hard to find).  But they were so receptive to the spirit and the 3 family members that were present accepted a baptismal date.  I´m excited to see them progress.  Unfortunately, they have not come to church yet, but I have faith.  I know there is a reason the Lord doesn´t want us to drop them.  

My house is completely different than it used to be.  There are now two Americans woohoo!! An Hermana from Aruba (who was here last transfer too) and an Hermana from Spain who is super sweet and says her Z´s like TH¨s haha its kind of cool.

Sorry this is really short.  I didn´t plan on writing today (today isn´t pday. they changed it to Thursday and last minute told us we could still email today.)

Love you all!

Love, Hermana Perry

Scripture of the week: I´ve read it a billion times, but it really hit me hard this week: John 6:35, 48, 51

 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

48 I am that bread of life

 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world

Week 35 : Noche Blanco (Dec.15, 2014)

Sent from mission Presidents wife...sunday night Dec.14 2014.  This is a package from her Aunt Lisa and Uncle Dave Titensor, It is the Twelve Days of Christmas, for a missionary.

My husband and I are in San Cristobal right now. We brought this pkg to your daughter!  We have a super American companion for her.

Hola mi gente!!

This week went by so fast.  But it was good.  We found a lot of potencial investigators which is awesome.  I´m excited for the work to really take off was a pretty exciting day.  We went to the temple in the morning with our ward.  I sometimes forget how awesome the temple is. I think everytime I go I love it even more.  I´m so grateful we have a temple so close.  Such a blessing.  In the evening we had a Noche Blanca (white night).  Missionaries from all over San Cristobal prepared people to be baptized on the same day and it was a huge even.  I think 16 people in total were baptized which is awesome!!  Unfortuantely the 2 baptisms that we had planned fell through :P  Pero estamos en la lucha aun.  It was really special to see so many people take this first step in the gospel.  The spirit was very strong during the whole program.  I had the priviledge of singing with my mom (Hermana Francis) in the program.  Scary, but fun :)  One of our investigators (Aime) came and it was such a miracle.  At the start we didn´t think we would get anywhere with her.  She lost her pregancy pretty far along and was quite upset with God, but she has made a 180 turn.  She surprises us with how much she progresses with every visit.  I have no doubt she will take the decision soon to be baptized. 

Transfers this week... Hermana M is leaving for the Captial and I will receive Hermana P. I don´t know much about her other than that she is American (Woohooo), has 6 months on the mission, and is currently in the capital.  I´m really excited for this next transfer.  Many good things to come.

Sorry this is kind of short :P  But nonetheless I love you all :)

Love, Hermana Perry

Some of the Ward members at the Santo Domingo Temple

Week 34 : "Exact Obedience Brings Miracles" ( Dec. 9,2014)

Hola todos!!

This week was really good.  I learned sooo much.  For a while I´ve been thinking a lot about obedience and how obedient I have been up to this point on my mission.  Right now I live in a house that obedience to mission rules is not top priority and it makes it hard. It´s really been frustrating me because it has caused me to slack on my obedience as well.  But I decided that enough was enough.  I want to be obedient.  Right after I made that decision is when I started to see the Lord´s hand working in this aspect of my life.  I thought of how I could be more obedient and immediately thought of a quote I heard in the CCM:  When obedience ceases to be an irritant and begins to be a quest, that is when we start to see the miracles.  And also:  Obedience brings blessings.  Exact Obedience brings miracles.  Miracles are what we need as missionaries.  This work is impossible without miracles everyday from the Lord.  How can I be exactly obedient?  That answer came in a Leadership conference by President Nuckols: Omni 1:26 Give ourselves entirely to the work of the Lord.

Yesterday we had our Christmas Conference.  President Nuckols talked a lot about how the Savior is a Gift, to go along with the new movie the Church made for Christmas.  He is the Gift.  He talked about the Savior´s life and how the biggest gift we were given was the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The he asked us a very profound question.  What is your gift to Him?  It almost left me breathless.  My first thought was ¨the Lord needs me to be Obedient.¨  He then went on to give us 3 suggestions of gifts we could give to the Lord. 1) 3 Nefi 9:20 A broke heart and a contrite spirit.  2) If ye love me, keep my commandments. 3) John 21:15-17 Feed my sheep.  With this last one he called up and Elder and asked the name of one investigator and one less active that he was teaching. (Let´s say they were Juan, and Marta...)  He then said to the Elder, ¨Elder, do you love the Savior?¨ ¨Yes.¨ ¨Will you feed Juan?¨ ¨Yes.¨ ¨Elder, do you love the Savior?¨ ¨Yes, Presidente.¨ ¨Will you feed Marta?¨ ¨Yes.¨ Ëlder, do you love the Savior?¨ ¨Yes.¨ ¨Will you feed your companion?¨... This last question hit me hard.  I have had a hard time lately with my companion and haven´t treated her with so much kindness through this trial.  But in that moment I was so overwhelmed with the spirit and love for her.  I got a nice big spiritual slap in the face, but it was exactly what I needed.  Part of my striving to be obedient is to love my companion, to pray for her, and to support her.  

In our Zone meeting at the beginning of the week, we talked about the Law of Consecration.   A question they wrote on the board was another answer to this desire to be obedient: What hurts more?  Working hard, or surrendering?  I knew what my answer was but it was confirmed in the Leadership Conference with a few scriptures: 1 Nefi 17:8-9 Where do I find the materials, not give me a boat.  1 Nefi 18:2-3 Work how the Lord wants you to, not how any man wants you to.  1 Nefi 17:51 (this one I have posted on my desk).  These moments have been some of the most spiritual moments of my mission thus far.  I´ve learned that growth isn´t easy, but it´s what we need.

I love my mission.  I wouldn´t change any part of what I´ve experienced for anything in the world.  I know this church is true with all that I am and have become.  Thanks for all your love and support.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 33 : 1st Baptism (Dec. 1, 2014)

Hola todos!

What a week.  It sure flew by.  But it was good.  It was all pretty normal.  My Zone is making a movie for the Christmas devotional next week so that was pretty fun.  We also celebrated Thanksgiving as a house (although I am the only American).  We went all out!  Turkey (jk it was chicken), mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and peach cobbler.  It was a cute little dinner. :)

This week had a horrible relaps of the Chickungunya rash... Red dots covering me from head to toe.  And they itch like nobody´s business.  This dang virus is said to stay in your system for 1-3 years dang it.  But all is well, after some good rest, drugs, and lots of water, I´m doing much better.

The highlight of the week: J. C. GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! :D  Ahh it was the happiest day ever!!  He was beyond excited.  He has come sooo far and changed soooo much.  It was awesome to see him FINALLY be baptized.  A lot of people from the ward came to support him which was awesome.  Haha but the poor guy, we forgot to explain to him that he has to bend his knees and plug his nose, so the actually baptism itself was kind of awkward haha! But it only took one time thank goodness.  The following day after he was confirmed he told me that he didn´t want to open his eyes after the confirmation because he just felt so peaceful.  He is awesome :)  He is going to change the world some day, no doubt.

Last week we taught one of our investigators, Angie, the Restoration and then left her the Joseph Smith movie to watch with her family.  This week when we went back the whole family had watched it, even her husband who refuses to listen to the lessons!  We started talking about the movie and she had a lot of questions and doubts that made no sense.  Like ¨I never saw them eat.  What did they eat?¨ and ¨They didn´t ever have jobs.  How did they get their money?¨ Very sceptical.  We did our best to answers all of her questions.  One of her last ones had to do with the Book of Mormon and how it ended up in Joseph Smith´s posession.  But this point the spirit was not there.  Her face was very cold, with much doubt and I was worried we were going to leave without her understanding that the movie was deeper than just any story.  We began to explain and testify of the Book of Mormon.  A few times she tied to interrupt but we just kept going.  Slowly her whole countenance changed.  She listened intently as we bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and by the end the spirit was so strong in the room.  I have no doubt she felt it.  When we left, her smile wasn´t just out of courtacy, but of true joy only brought by the spirit.  It was amazing how quickly the environment changed.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  I could never deny it if I wanted to.  It truly was written by a Prophet called of God for us in these last days.  Every word testifies of Christ.  How lucky our we to have such a powerful book that shows only a fraction of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us.  I testify that it truly can change lives.  If you haven´t read it or are not reading it, Please read it.  Then ask God if it is true.  I know it´s true and I testify of it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all 

Love, Hermana Perry

                                           
Our hike today on our P-day.  Almost our whole zone district.  Right above my head is is San Cristobal, and to the left is Santo Domingo. (on picture below)

                                                             Hiking, everything is so green.

Week 32 : Nasty!!! Big Kiss on the Back of my Neck (Nov.24, 2014)

Hello people!!

This week started out really crappy but ended really great.  Part of the crappy-ness is the following.  This country (and San Cristobal especially) is chuck full of bars.  On basically every other corner at any time of the day you can find at least one person drinking.  Weekends are the worst.  Everyone and their dog goes out to drink and there is a always a music battle between the colmados on each corner meaning that it is never NEVER quiet.  Most of our lessons on saturday and sunday we have to basically yell because the music is blaring and the base is shaking the house.  So this saturday we had about a half hour left before returning home so we decided to go visit one of the less active members who just happens to live right next to two big colmados with drunk men and loud bachata music everywhere.  We found her sitting out side her house on the steps next to a really drunk guy.  My comp offered her hand to shake out of respect and habit, but the guy, after shaking it, didn´t want to let her go.  Slowly he pulled her closer as I was pulling her back from behind.  When he saw that he wasn´t going to get her very close, he leaned down and kissed her hand, then asked for my hand.  When I didn´t offer it, he began to rant off a little bit so we then turned to the less active.  The next thing we know, the dude has stood up and started to walk around behind us,  I tried to move quickly to get out of his reach, but not soon enough because next thing I know I get big kiss on the back of my neck.  It was sooooo nasty!!! I freaked out a bit and jumped out of the way before he could grab me.  He tried to get my companion as well, but she got out of the way in time.  He then proceeded to climb on his motorbike to drive away, but he was beyond drunk so we started to object.  He then hopped off his motorbike and came walking back towards us, grabbed his beer bottle and poured it out in the bushes.  On his way back to his motorbike he grabbed my arm and began pulling as if it take me with him, but I used my crazy ninja skills to knock him to the ground. Jk... He finally just let me go and walked away.  After that we were a little traumatized so we went home.  I officially hate saturday and sunday nights.  They´re full of drunk frekos.

But on the bright side, we had 8 investigators at church this week!!! Woohoo!! Also, we have been working hard with J. C. this week and he had his interview with President Nuckols this sunday.  He was so nervous for it, but came out with the biggest smile on his face!

 J. C. IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!!!! :D  I am beyond happy!!! President said that he is sooo ready and there is no reason to wait.  It has been a long, tough road for him, but he was come so far and changed so much.  It is such a wonderful thing to see the gospel change people´s lives.  When we first started with J. C. I didn´t think he would get anywhere.  He was didn´t want to stop smoking, or read the Book of Mormon, or even pray.  But this gospel is so powerful.  I´m seriously so proud of him :)  I couldn´t be more excited about his baptism!!

I love this gospel, and despite the challenges, I love being a missionary.  Wonderful people like J. C. make it all worth it.  

Love you all!!

Love Hermana Perry

P.S.   mom!!!!! I need a favor if you are on!!!

We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving and I need to know what is the traditional food.  Yes I know i´m so dumb for not remembering, but I'm Dominican now so.... 

Also, we are going to try to make our own stuffing if you could send be an easy recipe to make it that would be great!

Week 31 : The Lord Has His Own Time Frame (Nov. 17, 2014)

This week was hard.  I´ve never felt so stressed and so frustrated :P  First off, I´ve had a horrible spirt of headaches these past couple weeks which has put me out of the missionary groove.  I can´t think so straight and am tired all the time, but yet when I get home and night my mind is suddenly wide awake and I can´t sleep :P  Yup.  Livin the dream.  It´s been tough on my comp too because in my current state all I want to do is have things quiet and by myself.  Yeah, that doesn´t really work when you have someone by your side 24-7.  But she is awesome and really patient with me.

Juan Carlos had his baptismal interview and we were all sooo excited!  When the interview was over and he left, my district leader (Who did the interview) told us that there were some problems.  Some things from his past where a little in contrary to the standards of the church and have to be discussed with the Mission President.  My heart sunk.  I couldn´t believe it.  Juan Carlos is soooo ready for this!!  He has such a glow about him and he has changed sooo much.  My district leader later talked to President and he said that we had to wait two weeks and go over some stuff with Juan Carlos, then he will have an interview with President, and then we can set his new baptismal date.  Ugh it´s so frustrating!!  When we told Juan Carlos, we tried to be as positive as we could, but our efforts didn´t do much.  He began to cry which broke my heart.  But he, despite this set back, still wants to keep progressing.  He wants to be baptized so bad.  I´m so sad about the whole situation, but the Lord know what is best at this time, so we will move forward with faith.

We got our Liahonas this week with the conference talks.  I had the chance to read two of my favorites by Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Godoy.  They were both truly inspiring talks.  They especially helped me in my struggles this week.  I encourage everyone to re-read conferece. So powerful the second and even third or even fourth time.  I love it!!

Love you all

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 30 : Juan Carlos is GOLDEN (Nov.10, 2014)

Hola todos,

This week was a blur.  I honestly couldn´t tell you what we did this week (work obviously, but who and what-no idea).  With that in mind and the fact that I don´t have a whole lot of time today, this will be a short email. :P

Update on Juan Carlos:  He is awesome.  Just golden.  He came to church again and LOVED it again.  We talked about the importance of temple marriage in the investigators´ class and he kind of got a little down hearted (he is 44 and single/no kids).  But after explaining that he's special someone just hasn´t come along yet, he cheered right up haha ready to go find himself a girlfriend ;)  He was going around church telling everyone about his baptism on the 22nd.  We even posted a little announcement on the board at church.  Today we had a stake activity and he was so happy to be there.  He hung out with the members like they were old friends and was so willing to help out with everything.  He is going to be the best member ever.  

It´s been really rainy here lately,  and with the rain its been pretty cold (for the DR).  I wake up in the mornings freezing under my little sheet haha.  I never thought I´d say this, but I miss the Utah cold...... yup.  It´s the truth.  BUT not all of the cold.  Just the mornings when you wake up buried in a  mountain of warm blankets and the sound of the heater kicking on.  Yeah, I miss that.  But nonetheless all is well.  All y'all are stilling at home literally freezing your butts off and I´m enjoying the ¨cold¨ 73 degree weather.  What torture...

Anyhow, Love you all and yes, the church is still true.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 29 : Carving Watermelons in the DR (Nov. 3, 2014)

Buenas :)

This week was once again a slow week as far as lesson go.  A lot of our lessons fell through :P  But it was still a good week.  Unfortuately, we may have just lost two of our oldest progressing investigators.  One may be moving to Spain next week and the other believes the church is true, but still doesn´t want to give up her religion... Tough stuff.

Juan Carlos is still doing awesome!! Every time we see him he has more energy and excitement to learn.  He is still working on quitting smoking.  It´s been a long process so far, but he is doing awesome!! He has so much support from the ward.  They all love seeing him at church!  Speaking of church, he came again!! He almost didn't because he had a work party, but said, ¨no, I`m going to church first.¨ He´s awesome!!

Halloween was awesome!!  Hermana Mejia and I dressed up as missionaries ;)  It was quite fun.  And we also carved a watermelon (pumpkins don´t really exist here).  And what is Halloween without chili?  Bro. Hansen´s tradition lives on even in the DR :)

On Saturday we had a Helping Hands service project in the church.  The members got together and we cleaned the church and the block on which it sits.  It was quite a project seeing as how this city (or country) isn´t the cleanest, but it felt good to help.  I did my best to pick up even the little pieces of trash and ended up getting crap from some crap from one of the youth.  He made a point of telling me that I didn´t need to pick up every little piece and when I objected, he tactfully placed more tiny pieces of trash in my path, making a game for him and the rest of the group.  They continued this game and didn´t mention a thing to me until the service project was over.... haha!  But what fun we had while serving.

This week is transfers.  Me and my comp will stay together for at least one more transfer.  One of the Hermanas in my house just finished her mission and her comp will be getting a mini missionary this transfer.   Interesting, we will see how things go.

Nothing too big to report this week, other than things are going good here in Lava Pies.

Love you all.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 28 : Extra Companion By My Side (Oct.27,2014)

Hola todos!

This week was pretty good.  Some big events when down and I´ve come to a conclusion on a few things: 1.  I´m no a fan of intercambios  2. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways  3. The Priesthood is powerful.

So we had intercambios(companion exchange because my comp is an Hermana Leader) and I didn´t enjoy it.  ´Nough said.

This past saturday marked the 3rd anniversary of when my dad passed away.  The day started out normal and what not, but when we went out to teach something was different.  I felt more intune with the Spirit and more of a desire from my investigators to listen and act on the things we taught them.  After a few lessons I realized what the difference was.  I had an extra compaion: My dad.  He was right there with me, testifying of the truthfulness of this message.  It was powerful.  The day was just about done and we were heading back home when we passed one of our investigator´s house (Angie).  She was outside so we took the opportunity to talk to her because we didn´t find her their earlier in the day.  Seeing that she was a bit upset and distant, we decided to sing a hymn with her and head on our way.  When the hymn was finished, we looked up and saw that she was in tears.  After a short prayer so proceeded to tell us that she missed her dad and that he had passed away.  It hit me right then and there that it was no accident that she was outside her house just as we were passing.  I was able to share my testimony with her about the plan of Salvation like I never had with anyone.  I know without a doubt that she felt the spirit.  When she left she had a look of relief on her face rather than the pain that we saw upon arriving.  This gopsel is true.  It is so powerful.  I know without a doubt that I will see my dad again.  I will live with him again.  The spirit world is closer than we realize.  I feel so blessed to have my dad guiding me out here.  I couldn´t think of a better companion.

On sunday we finally had our investigator Juan Carlos at church!!! He has had to work every sunday until this one.  He almost didn´t come because he is sick with a bad cold, but decided to make the trek down the mountain (He lives pretty far from the church) to keep his promise to us and the Lord.  We also had arranged to give him a blessing to help him quit smoking so he can fully be ready for his baptism (Nov 22!!!)  After the second hour he wasn´t feeling good at all and told us he was going to go home, so we quickly grapped the Elders to give him a blessing.  We all gathered in the bishops office for the blessing and it was exactly what he needed.  The Elders didn´t know all that was going on with him, but yet they addressed almost every challenge that he has right now.  As he was leaving the chapel, he turned to us and he looked different.  He had the same look of relief on his face as Angie had.  He told us that his back no longer hurt.  This gospel is changing him.  The Priesthood is sooo powerful.  I didn´t realized actually how powerful until my faith was put to test with my investigators.  I can´t wait until Juan Carlos gets baptized!

The church is true.  Love you all :)

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 27: Crazy DR Family Names (Oct.20, 2014)

Hello People,

I didn´t think it could happen, but this week was the longest week ever.  It just dragged!  We had Zone conference on Wednesday and it was awesome.  Elder Cornish spoke to us about using members and strengthening less active members.  A scripture he shared that I really like is Alma 5:14, 26.  We are called to help them remember the covenant they made and receive His image in their countanence.  He also focused a lot on Preach My Gospel which was a big boche because I haven´t been using it as much as I should :P

This week we had a miracle with one of our investigators. Juan Carlos has had a big problem with smoking and his dad just died about 2 months ago. Last week when we went to visit him, he was not well at all. He didn´t want to quit smoking, wouldn´t pray, hadn´t read the Book of Mormon in a long time, and really looked like he was hurting a lot. We challenged him to simply touch the book once a day and hoped to find some way to bring him some peace. We returned, he had changed. He had not only read the Book of Mormon, but had read a good chunk of it and understood it. He was smiling and laughing with us, whereas the last week we could hardly get him to look at us. And the biggest miracle of all is that his has gone from 5 cigerettes a day to 1!! It is so awesome to see how this gospel can change people.

We had double intercambios this week... woohoo... :P  On thursday with the Hermanas in Nisao and Saturday with members of the ward.  Since we lost two works days this week, I went out with an awesome member, Sandra.  It was really cool to see her testimony as she shared it with our investigators and it really put to test my knowledge of the new area and my connection with the investogators.  It was definitely a learning experience, as it is with every intercambio.  

Interesting note of the week:  Dominican names (mind you, this is one family): Eliana, Omar, Eliani, Omaily, and Elian.  (Family number 2): Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis Miguel, and Miguel Alexis.  I don´t know how they handle it haha!

Now on a spiritual note, today my comp was reading in the bible and just stopped and turned to me with the biggest look of awe on her face.  She told me she had been reading in John 15 verses 13-16.  She read them to me and the spirit hit me strong.  Jesus Christ is my friend.  He loves me and cares for my like a true friend does.  I went back and read the whole chapter and it is all so powerful.  I especially like verses 26 and 27 as well.  We are to testify of the spirit and the spirit will testify of us.  So powerful!!  I love this gospel!!

Love you all sooooooo much!!

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 26 : 37 Contacts from a Bus Ride (Oct 13,2014)

Hola todos!!

This week was good.  The highlight of the week was that we had Stake Conference.  Our Area Presidente, Elder Cornish, came and spoke and it was awesome.  He told us a story about a little girl that fell in a hole and it took them 3 days and billions of dollars to get her out, but they did and she survived.  Why someone would spend billions of dollars just to save one little baby.  Then he had a family of 3 and one on the way come up on the stand.  He asked them if they loved their daughter.  They said yes.  Then he asked them if they would be willing to give him their daughter because they are expecting another baby and they said no.  ¨But which one of your children are you going to love?¨ They said  both.  He then went on to ask them how they were going to love their two children.  ¨Because they are ours.¨  ¨Which are you going to love more?¨ ¨We will love them the same.¨  He then compared it to the love that Heavenly Father has for us.  He loves every single one of His children equally, but with a love that we can´t even imagine.  It really opened my eyes.  God really does love ALL of His children.  Even the freckos who blow me kisses on the streets.  It was a great conference.

Big news of the day:  We contacted a guagua (a bus)!!  We were on our way back from the capital and my comp was like ¨we gotta do it¨ haha so we stood up the guagua and introduced ourselves haha!  It was sooooo nerve wracking, but awesome at the same time!  We got 37 contacts from it ha!

Sorry their´s not much news this week :P  Investigators are the same, still working hard with them.

Love you all

Love, Hermana Perry

I just want to tell you that I love you soooo much.  I´m struggling a little, but after talking to President Nuckols,  I have felt worlds better.  I know that this all will pass, but its the pits while i´m going through it.  For the first part of my mission, I felt a lot of pressure from President to be ¨perfect¨because I was their ¨first born¨ as he says.  But after talking to him, I really feel that he and Hma Nuckols really do care about me and the other missionaries so much.  They have been so good about keeping an update on me this week and it´s just as if you and dad where here with me (not quite but as close as I´ll ever get).  He told me something that really hit me.  "If it´s not a struggle,  I´m not learning."  Some days are harder than others, but that just means I´m learning real good that day ;)  I realized that this time on the mission is a once in a lifetime chance to do what I am doing.  And as much as I want to sit down and cry some days,  I know I will look back at this time and be grateful for it.

I love you sooooooo much.  Your letters and support mean more than the world to me.  A scripture my comp shared with me that I really like: Alma 48:11-13 but replace Moroni with Mom & Dad. 

Love, Hermana Perry

This is a part of the email that I sent to President this week.  I thought I´d share it with you.  Love you lots :)

Right now the investigators we are working hardest with are all still waiting for their answers. One, Juan Carlos, I think is really having a hard time. His dad was investigating the church and was progressing really well, but he passed away two or so months ago before getting the chance to be baptized. We are trying to help him find comfort through the Atonement. Before I left, my Stake President said that my experience with everything with my dad would be something that will help me, help others and I feel like this is the very thing he was talking about. I've thought about it, and maybe this is the best way to get through this month in one piece--to help him find the same peace and comfort that I have found through Jesus Christ. 

Week 25 : General Conference in the DR (Oct 6)

Hola!!

This week was good.  Normalish. On friday my comp had to be in a meeting for all the leaders so we both got to go to the capital for the day.  I got to see all of my companions thus far!!! It was awesome! :)

Something funny, everyone is putting up Christmas decorations!!!  Trees, lights (even our house!! haha), the whole shabang!  They really love Christmas which makes sense because they are very Christ centered people.  

As I´m sure you all know, this weekend was General Conference.  We got see all of the sessions which was awesome!!  But all in spanish.  It was an interesting experience to not hear their real voices.  My favorite talks were Elder Uchtdorf´s and Elder Godoy.  I love how Elder Uchtdorf so firmly stated that the most important thing that we can gain in this life is a testimony of this gospel.  It is the most powerful thing.  Without a testimony of this truth, what are we living for?  ¨When we gain light and use it to praise God, we will gain more light.¨ So powerful.  Elder Godoy beautifully complemented Elder U´s talk when he spritiually slapped probably a lot of people in the face by saying ¨If you keep living the way you are, will you receive the blessings stated in you Patriarchal Blessing?¨  Boom.  This gospel is not a sit down and wait for the Lord to come again, but rather do everything in our power to prepare the world for when He does come.  Heavenly Father expects so much of us and in return He is willing to give us far more than we give Him.  I loved hearing the worlds of the Prophet and Apostles.  It brings a peace similar to that of the temple.

So this weekend being so special with Conference and all, we decided to fast with one of our investigators Sandra.  She has doubts and questions about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and has such a stong desire to get and answer.  She came to the first session on sunday and it was such an answer to our prayers that basically every speaker in that session talked about profets.  I know it was exactly the thing she needs to know that the BOM was written by and translated by Profets of God.  If all goes as planned, she will be baptized in about two weeks. :)

I have no doubt that this church is true.  I love the gospel so much and I couldn´t be more blessed than to be able to share it with the people here.  Thanks for your prayers and support.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 24 : Transfer, Beautiful San Cristobal (Sept 29)

Hola Hola!!!

Ay mi marde this week was crazy!!  First off, I left my first area and my step mom :(  Sad day!!  But thus is the mission.  

San Cristobal is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!  It is compeletely different that Azua.  There are a lot of hills and it is soooo green!!  It rains about every day and it is super humid.  But I LOVE it!!  And it actually gets cold here!! Ha well probably like 70 degrees, but that is cold compared to what I'm now used to.

My companion is Hermana Mejia and she is awesome!! She is from Mexico and will have 9 months in just a few days.  She was just made an Hermana Leader, so more intercambios for me... woohoo...  Also, she doesn't speak english..!!! Crazy!! And what's even better is that I'm the only one in the house that does!  Ugh it makes my brain hurt, but my spanish has improved so much these past few days and my english has gone down hill haha!!  Also, we are the only Hermanas in all of San Cristobal.  I stick out bad time :P

The people here are great! The members are so strong.  It is actually a ward here!!!  And tha chapel is HUGE and beautiful.  I'll send pictures when I can.  The people on the streets are even more freko than in Azua.  I'm guessing that's because I'm the first American here in a long time :P  I even got some freko comments from some girls... :S  But all is well, my Book of Mormon comes in handy as a shield/ weapon ;)

My brain is kind of scattered today :P  I'll write more about investigators and what not next week when I get to know them more.  I just can't believe I'm in my second Area already and with my third companion... TIME FLIES!!!

Love you all!!

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 23 : Epic Week! Gun Shots and All (Sept 22)

Buenas!!

This week was absolutely crazy... CRAZY!!  So Hermana Hernandez and I made some pretty crazy goals for this week, with it being the last week of the transfer and all.  We wanted it to be epic. And it was!!  We had 14 lessons with a member and 17 others which is the most I've ever had by far!!  And 120 contacts!!  I love being a missionary!!!

So on Friday we were out working and what not and we cross the street Marcos Medina and see a big group of motors at the end.  Some people on the street said that it was a strike of some kind, so we thought nothing of it.  Later on the day we were at the church for our Friday Movie Night and we heard gun shots.  We went out to see what was going on and the strike had turned into a giant huelga (riot).  Apparently some kid from Azua was unjustly killed by a police officer so they felt the need to rebel.  So we decided to leave the church and on our way out we saw that there were fires in the streets and what not.  We were confined to the house for a few hours on friday and then a few hours in saturday :P  No fun.  Everything seems to be calming down now.

So while we were stuck in the house, we decided to make an angel Moroni statue out of water bottles that I've been saving since I entered the field, and it was EPIC!  We had an ugly Joseph Smith painting that was found in the Elders house, so we cut out the face and put it on the statue. It's pretty sweet, ya know.

Aaaannd, we got transfer calls on saturday... "Hermana Perry se va." :( I'm leaving Azua.  Sad day, but I guess I can't stay here forever.  I'm heading to San Cristobal, Lava Pie.  It is right next to the Capital.  And apparently I'm the first American Hermana to go there in about 18 months... No big deal, I'll fit right in ;)

Love you all soooooo much!!

Love,  Hermana Perry

Our "Epic Statue" in progress

Hermana Hernandez, Angel, and Hermana Perry

Angel Felix Mike Smith Moroni

Mommy are you proud of your missionary daughter?

Karubi, her little siblings, and Carlos

Another Carlos

Reymon, member 

 Filadelfia, My DR Grandma

Kelivn, member

Week 22 : Branch Choir (Sept 15)

Hola todos! Good week.  But yet as I think back on it, I don't really remember what happened haha! The heat is getting to me :P

The Elders had a baptism this week and Carlos Lara (the new young Carlos.  The other Carlos who was progressing moved to the Capital after he relapsed.  He thought it'd be easier to quit drinking there... I don't think so.) Anyhow, Carlos Lara came to the baptism!  He has such a desire to learn about the gospel, it's awesome!

Yesterday we had a member with us to visit people.  We had like 6 lessons planned and were so excited for the member to meet our investigators, but all but one of our lessons fell through... Ugh.  But we were walking to one of our investigator's house and we found Katerine and Dinna, two investigators who have been missing forever (well, we just could never find them when they were home), so we stopped and had a lesson with them.  It was so powerful.  Katerine still hasn't received an answer to whether or not the church is true and really wants to.  I shared an experience I had here on the mission that I received a witness of God and His power and the spirit was so strong.  Then Casilda, the member, shared her testimony and it was even more powerful!! Then we talked a little about baptism and both Katerine and Dinna accepted to be baptized!!! Ahh I'm so excited!  My testimony of God's timing has been strengthened so much.  I know that if all of our lessons hadn't fell through, we wouldn't have been right there at the right time.

So our branch cannot sing to save their lives.  President was visiting one sunday and he said it was a "train wreck" haha!! So we decided to make a Branch Choir!  I'm soo excited :)  This sunday was the first practice and we taught them how to lead music and follow the conductor (which they struggle with sooooo bad ha).  It was really fun and I have no doubt this will help them so much.  Also, we met this Evangelico singer and he gave us his CD.  He told us that he has a Book of Mormon and wants to write a Book of Mormon song.  After talking for a while, he asked us if we would write a song of the Book of Mormon!! WHAT?!?  No way :)  Beyond excited!!

Love you all!! The church is true.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 21 : ANOTHER Beer into the street! (Hermana Perry be CAREFUL!!!) (Sept 8)

Hola Hola!!

This was overall was great!! I have been exhausted since the hike last monday, but we had some great progress!!  On tuesday we went to the Temple and it was a much needed spiritual recharge :)

We had a major setback this week :P  Our best progressing investigator, Carlos, has a drinking problem and is trying soo hard to quit so we decided that we would fast with him so he could stop.  On saturday we stopped by in the morning and he was really excited to fast.  In the afternoon when we stopped by, he was nowhere to be found.  Not wanting to waste time, we went to another cita.  After that cita, we called him and the neighbor and he was still missing.  We went to another cita and then passed by his house again and he wasn't there, but his super Catholic brother was.  He said. "your little friend that you are trying to convert is drinking." So, without even discussing our plans, we started to walk to the bar.  When we got there, sure enough there he was.  When he saw us, his face dropped.  What happened next is kind of crazy and I still don't believe half of it myself.  I walked up to him and attempted to take the drink from his hand, but he hid it before I could.  I began to, not so calmly, to ask him what in the heck he was doing.  The big bottle of beer was sitting on the counter between him and his friend, so I grabbed it and began to pour in the street.  He wasn't so happy about it.  I kind of just let him have it after that... As my comp would say, I "released the crackin"... He got on his pasola and was trying to drive off when we left.  The next day we went back to talk to him and he told us that he crashed his pasola and ended up in the hospital and his pasola was gone.  He didn't remember that we had even been at the bar.  He was a mess.  What is worse is that he told us he is moving to the capital, so we won't get to teach him anymore :(  I don't know what God has planned for him, but I just hope and pray that he will find his stength to kick this bad habit. 

So this week we had two young men just explode.  One of the them, Angel, we have been working with for a while.  He didn't make a whole lot of progress in the beginning, but he has looked like a priesthood holder from the first day I met him.  We had a lesson with him about how he can get answers from his prayers and it was so powerful.  At the end of the lesson, we had a kneeling prayer and he asked if the church was true and it was awesome! He just shines.  And, HE CAME TO CHURCH!!  It was fast and testimony meeting, which is all the better.  After church we visited with him and he told us that he wanted to get up and bare his testimony, but he was scared.  AHH WHAT???? Soo Cool!!! We gave him a book of Mormon and his face was like a kid on Christmas.  He was sooo  excited to read it!! Ah this kid is steller!

The other young man is Carlos.  He has sat in a few lesson with one of our investigators, Karubi, but  we have never taught him, but last week he came to church with her so we thought, hey why not teach him.  So we started teaching him and he is awesome too!!! He goes to an Evangelico church because they give him a scholarship, but he said he would stop going to and lose his scholarship to come to church!!  He came this week again and was so awesome!! He participated more in class that anyone else and is sooo excited to learn.  We also gave him a book of Mormon and I thought he was going to cry he was so happy!  Ah he and Angel are going to be apostles one day.

I really learned this week that God has a plan for everyting, even if I don't see that plan right now.  I've witnessed how powerful Satan is, but yet how much more powerful God is.  I won't lie, the mission is hard, but it's WORTH IT.  I KNOW this is the true church of Jesus Christ.  I couldn't deny it even if I wanted to.  I love you all so much and thank you for your love and prayers.

Love, Hermana Perry