Week 47: "I'm going to be a MOM!!!" (Mar 9, 2015)

This week was probably the most crazy week of the mission. It started on Tuesday when Hna N. came out proselyting with us. It was way fun and I learned a lot. And it wasn´t so bad to get to drive to all of our citas ;) Something that is a big bummer is that basically all of our progressing investigators had one problem or another. I guess it is just the Lord saying that we need to work harder.

The whole week I was really anxious 1) because of things going on in the house, and 2) because of things I have been struggling with for a good chunk of my mission. I got talking with one of the Hnas in my house while making brownies one night and it turned into a deep conversation. She ended up helping me find an answer to that thing that I have been struggling with. One thing she helped me see was how much I have changed as a person and how this change is good. I really do feel like a different person. My voice even sounds different to me... Odd. Part of that answer though, came through the words of my dad. My mom sent me a quote last week of something my dad said the Thanksgiving after getting sick. He said, ¨My faith in Jesus Christ and God gives me the strength and courage to face any challenge and accept any outcome...¨ Those words really got to me. My dad was and is such a wonderful example to me.

So big news... I´m going to train!!!! I´m so flippen scared, but excited at the same time!! I just hope to give my daughter the best experience and start her off right. It feels like I was just in training... Now I have 11 months... I honestly can´t believe it.

Sorry this is so short again.. I just don´t really have the words to describe this week. Crazy crazy.

Love you all.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 46: "I ate a chicken foot" (Mar. 2, 2015)

Not much time today sorry this will be short.

So this week was a little rough.  I got sick again with a little one day flu bug.  One day in the house.  No fun.

One of our investigators Jose is doing awesome.  When the hermanas were teaching him before he didn`t really take them serious.  But then we started with him again and he has been really receptive.  It was awesome to clear up his doubts and questions.  We gave him a BoM to read and he has only read the intro and the testimonies and he already thinks its true.  He has come to church 3 times now and we don`t even have to remind him.  He is awesome.  I have no doubt he will be baptized soon :)

Interesting thing this week:  I ate a chicken foot.  It´s a normal food here.  It was kind of weird.  Just tasted like chicken (duh) but it was really hard and has a really scaly texture. I don`t know how much I really liked it haha!! But at least I tried it ;P

Love you all sorry it´s short

Love Hermana Perry

Week 45: Electricity is overrated anyway :) (Feb. 23, 2015)

Hola mi gente!!

This week was really good.  We didn´t get as good of numbers as last week, but something President said the other day really sums this week up: No todo que cuenta podemos contar y a veces lo que contamos realmente no cuenta. Translation: Not everything that matters can be counted and sometimes not everything we count really matters.

So the other day we found a new less active Miguelina.  She, her parents, and her brother were all baptized like 25 years ago. A few years after being baptized they moved and the chapel that we now go to hadnt been built, so they went less active.  We are now teaching her, her dad, and two of her children (not members).  The other day we talked about the Restoration and asked them to pray about it.   During the week between visits, President assigned us to study chapter 11 of Preach My Gospel in preparation for the Zone Conference that talks about Commitments.  So I studied it.  When we went back to Miguelina and her family to teach them about the BoM a few days later and I remembered what I had studied about commitments and the last point the chapter talks about stood out in my mind: Follow up.  So I decided to ask them if they had prayed and if they felt they got an answer, thinking I´d get a ¨se fue la guagua¨ or ¨Si puedo no senti nada hasta ahora¨ Which basically means nope.  But their response was completely different.  Miguelina started by saying that their house felt different.  She said it is calmer and kinder.  She also told us that the Jehovah´s Witness missionaries had been coming as well, but that she felt something different with us.  Ahh I was blown away!!! The her father commented that he too could see a difference in the family.  Then her 22 year old son Isaac began to talk.  He started out by saying, "Look, I don´t have patience," and I thought he was going to say he hadn't received an answer but he said, "I have had so much patience this week.  It does feel different in this house." We asked them what them feeling this way could mean and they were all agreed that it was an answer to their prayers.  It was absolutely amazing!! I´m so excited to teach them :)  Tonight we are going to set baptism fechas with Isaac and Ashly (her two kids).  They have been prepared so much to receive the gospel.

On Saturday we had a Cosecha (a ward activity to find less actives).  My comp and I went with the bishop and one of his councilors.  We went to find this one lady, Katerine, who they have been looking for for a while.  When we went to her house, she was there!  So we started talking with her and she told us how she was offended when she was 14 by someone in church and hadn't returned for about 10 years.  We talked and got to know her more and just as we were getting ready to say the last prayer, she said, ¨Last night I was crying and asking God to help me find the right church to go to (she has been visiting the Evangelico church or something) and now you guys show up at my door.  I didn't call you.  I know you were sent from God.¨ Wow it was crazy to hear her say that.  The bishop was almost skipping as we left her house, although she was like the only person we found that day.  We answered her prayer without even intending to.  God didn't say ¨Hey so she has been praying to find my church, go rescue her.¨ We just happened to have the Cosecha that day and her name was on our list.  That experience really strengthened my testimony on the power of prayer and acting on simple promptings.  This gospel is awesome :)

Yesterday was a great day as well.  We had Elder Zivic of the Seventy visit our ward with his wife.  They spoke and I think everyone really enjoyed it.  We had 6 investigators come to church which is the most I've ever had on one Sunday!  Something that really caught my attention that Hna Zivic said was ¨if the Savior came to visit for a few days, what would you have to change?¨ It was close to the last sentence she said in her talk.  Then Elder Zivic spoke and almost the last sentence he said, quoting President Kimball, was, ¨It didn't matter to me if I died because I know my life is in order.¨ Both my comp and I were kind of floored by those words.  It really got us thinking.  So I will ask you consider their profound words as well.

So on Wednesday night, the guys from the power company shut off our power.  They needed the light contract, but since the office has it and not us, they cut the power...  So we were without electricity for about 5 days.. Not fun.  All of the food in the fridge went bad, we couldn´t wash, we couldn´t use the fans, nothing.  Talk about annoying!!  Our landlord must have felt bad for us today because he FINALLY hooked us up to his power.   Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon.

I really love being a missionary. :)  Even if we have to rough it sin luz (without light) for a few days.  I saw some beautiful miracles this week and I can´t wait so see more in this area. :)

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 44: "Don't leave their house without leaving a commitment" (Feb. 16, 2015)

Hola todos,

This week was kind of slow :P We had a lot of lessons and made some progress with some of our investigators, but I still feel like something was missing.

On Friday we had a Zone meeting. We talked about how we have to leave commitments every time before leaving the house and we talked about why it is important to do so. They prepare us to make covenants with God and lead to many promised blessings. Really if we don´t commit our investigators to do something between visits, it´s like asking them to not repent. Commitments mean progress. Progress means repentance. Repentance means a change of heart. And a change of heart is what the Lord wants from us.  They said something that I really like.  "Don't leave their house without leaving a commitment.  Don´t leave your house without remembering that you have made of covenant with God."

Something they also talked a lot about was the mission schedule.  It was like a slap in the face because our whole house has struggled to get to bed on time, either because we have a lot to do, or because we get talking among ourselves.  They reminded us that the mission schedule has been inspired.  We can show our willingness to obey and be a true disciple of Christ by living the mission schedule.

Sorry this is super short :P  Not much to report this week.  Love you all.

Love, Hermana Perry

Week 43: "Who knew you could catch a cold on a tropical island!?" (Feb. 9, 2015)

Hola todos!!

This week had some greats and some not so greats.  One of the not so greats was that I was really sick like the whole week. Starting Tuesday I got gripe (a cold) really bad and spent two days in the house with no energy, headaches, sore throat, and overall just feeling lousy.:P  But I survived the worst and yesterday started feeling better thank goodness.  Who knew you could catch a cold on a tropical island!?  Me being sick really threw off the whole week for us which is a bummer.  I am determined to really learn the area this week and make it the best.

So this Saturday we went back to see the guy who really just wanted to fight with us.  He has different beliefs about the Holy Ghost so we studied up good in the Bible about it before the cita (appointment).  In my personal study time I looked for a scripture from the Bible that would really knock his socks off.  After spending the whole hour on that, I didn't find what I was hoping for, but I learned something possible even more valuable:  The Bible is not complete.  It is missing sacred doctrine and principles that are so vital in the church.  My testimony of the Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price was really strengthened.  But unfortunately, the guy Julio, didn't want to hear anything that wasn't in the Bible.  He wouldn't even let us sing a hymn because we weren't reading directly from the Bible.  So we began to teach out of the Bible the point we wanted to make and in his attempt to battle us, my companion used his own words against him and asked him to support his belief with a verse in the Bible.  We sat there for a solid 5 minutes in silence as he looked for his scripture before we decided to throw some more at him.  He continued to search for the duration of the lesson but never found anything to support what he was saying.  What was really cool though is at one point we asked him if he had ever felt the spirit and he said he didn't know.  We read him the scripture in Galatians that talks about the fruits of the spirit and the whole room filled with the spirit as he understanding grew.  I thought for sure we had him to the point where we could whip out the Book of Mormon to slap some more doctrine on him, but something that we said didn't fit his beliefs.  It so quickly sucked the spirit from the room and he began to contend again.  He is going to be a tough cookie to crack, but I´m not going to give up on him.  Something deep inside of him is screaming for the truth.  He just doesn't know it yet.

So this Sunday was my first normal Sunday in the ward and I was absolutely amazed.  My comp and I taught Young Women's and the classroom was full.  Not one empty chair.  But what shocked me the most was Sacrament meeting.  The chapel (although small) was full.  I didn't hardly see any empty chairs.  I was very much surprised.  It was such a wonderful feeling to see so many people at church.  The Hermanas told me that it wasn't even that full.  SO COOL!!! The church is true. I love the gospel.

On last quick thought:  Something that I have noticed happens a lot here is that people receive answers to prayers or personal revelations through dreams.  We had an investigator tell us a few of her dreams and they were really cool.  We explained how they could be answers from God telling her what path she should take.  Super cool.

Love you all.

Love, Hermana Perry 

Week 42: Transfers, "I see Ikea and American Restaurants" ( Feb. 2, 2015 Ashlyn's Birthday )

Hola todos!!

This week has honestly been the wildest week of the mission!!! So Tuesday was transfer day.  I'm headed from San Cristobal to my new area near the Capital (exactly where...I don´t know).  The house I live in now a lot different than the one I've been in.  It is tiny in comparison.  Us 4 hermanas share one big bedroom and it has a really high ceiling so it feels like an orphanage.  What´s a bummer is that I am now back to bucket showers... yay!!  But what kind of makes up for it is that when we do have running water, we have a hot water heater so that is cool.

On Wednesday morning, the Elders came and helped us paint the house, that meant that basically everything that I had unpacked and organized we had to take out to paint :P  On Friday, the bishop who always takes care of the problems in the hermanas´ house decided that the house needed to be painted again, so after organizing everything for a second time, they came and made a mess of our house again.

The area is completely different.  I feel like I've changed missions all together.  The other day we had a stake activity to find less actives and I went with an Hermana in the other ward and as we drove on the highway I felt like I was in the states.  We passed Ikea and a bunch of American restaurants and it was freaking me out a little.  There are some giant houses here too.  My are is full of apartment buildings.  They are quite nice as well.  It´s not as crazy as I thought it´d be.  It actually seems calmer than San Cristobal because there are not so many colmados and drunk people and the streets are not so tight.  I actually kind of like it.  But what´s weird is that there are basically always a billion people out on the streets doing who knows what, but the streets are always full.  They are a lot more intense here too.  Contacting is weird because some people won´t even open the door, just ask who it is and have us pass the contacting card under the door.  We contacted this one dude who was really intense.  We started to explain how our message helps people find more happiness in this life and the next and he started going off about how there i so much bad in the world and throwing stuff about Satan at us.  At first he wouldn´t let us in, but after the started arguing with us and wanted to prove us wrong, he let us in haha.  We actually got a return cita so we will see how things go with him.

My companion is awesome!! She is from the Capital in the East.  I am her Step-Mom (her second companion, right after training).  She is an amazing missionary and cooks sooooo well.  She is teaching me how to cook and dance bachata :) and I am teaching her English and the Napolian Dynamite dance ;)  her cute laugh reminds me of my lovely aunt Lisa Titensor ;)

Spiritual thought for the week:  We had a special Stake Conference (for the whole Caribbean actually) where Elder Packer, Elder Holland, and other general authorities spoke and it was awesome.  It was especially awesome because it seriously was just for us!  The stake President also talked and one thing he said that was awesome was how we can have a true conversion.  We must Know (or come to know), Feel, and Act.  That hit me pretty hard and helped me really thing through my own conversion and the conversion of my investigators.  We decided that we are going to use this in our teaching to help our investigators understand the process of the their conversion.  Something another speaker said (I think Elder Wilford Anderson--he as just released from being Area President of the Caribbean):  Faith does not mean perfections.  It means Endurance.  It was over all a wonderful conference and I think it really helped our members here.

Thank you all for your birthday wishes!!! It has been an amazing day!!

Love you all!! The church is true!!

Love, Hermana Perry!! 

(La Yuca my ward, I live in San Geronimo)


Hermana Perrry loved all of the notes from family and friends for her Birthday, she said it was amazing seeing them all as she opened her email yesterday. She loves all of you!!!

In San Geronimo, Hermana Ashlyn Perry, Hermana F, from Ashlyn's first area, Hermana V, (Ashlyn's comp), Herman Apelu, (trainee from Hawaii)

Mom is going to be sending a new camera, as you can see her's is dying.

Note to Mom ( Marsha )

I have to go, but one thing I want to tell you.  Something that Elder Holland said in his talk was ¨By way of the spirit we are in the same room¨  the conference was a broadcast, so he said it referring to that, but I thought of you when he said it.  I love you so much!! Despite the fact that we are thousands of miles away means nothing because the spirit keeps us together.  Love you soooo much!!

love your missionary

Week 41: Headed to La Yuca (Jan. 26,2015)

Whey KLK?

This week went soo flippen fast.  But is was awesome.  

I really learned the power of fasting this week.  My comp and I have been having a little trouble with success in the area so we decided to fast on Wednesday.  Not 2 hours after we finished our fast we get a call from the Elders in our district and they tell us they have a reference for us.  But not just any reference.  They were traveling from the capital in a Guagua, coming home from a meeting, and decided to contact this lady sitting next to them.  She explained that she is Adventist but they proceeded to explain anyways.  After talking for a while, they had her read Alma 7.  When she finished, she asked for a Book of Mormon and said she wanted to learn about the church.  We went to visit her the next day and she is awesome!!  During the rest of the week we had a lot of success, especially with references (which is the best finding method).  We ended up getting 6 references from people in the ward and investigators.  That is ridiculous because we have trouble reaching the goal of 2 each week.  But what a blessing!  I really feel like the work is going to take off.  We have quite a few solid investigators who are progressing towards baptism! :)

So this Saturday was the end of the transfer.  Our house felt pretty sure that we were going to stay the same so we were not so worried.  My comp and I were mean and decided to play a trick on the other Hermanas in the house.  While they were gone, the Elders from the office brought us a new washer (ours broke...) and we asked about the transfers.  They unfortunately didn´t tell us, but tricked the Hermanas into thinking that we knew.  We told them that 2 of us were going and they two that were staying were going to train.  We let it sit for a while, then the guilt got to us haha so we told them it was all a lie.  Like an hour or so later while we were making lunch, President Nuckols called.  We all freaked out because he only calls personally if you are going to train or be an Hermana leader.  When he called, he asked for me and my heart began to race.  We talked for a second, then he said, ¨Hermana, we are going to transfer you.¨ My heart sunk.  He then told me that they needed me in another area but wanted to call because I told him in my weekly email that I didn´t want to leave the area.  But I guess he and the Lord have different plans.  San Cristobal is my home.  It was sooooo hard to say goodbye to everyone here.  Harder than in Azua.  I´m now headed to La Yuca in the captial (which is funny because 1) I have always said I don´t want to go to the capital, and 2) because that is where my comp just came from and she joked with me that that would be my next area.  I´m going to have a Dominican Companion which means I´m going to learn to cook like una jefa!! (a boss).  Super pumped for that!! :)  But still really really sad to leave this area and Hermana Paul.  This transfer has been the best transfer with the best Hermanas.  Pe na.  Palante.  Thus goes mission life.

Love you all,

Love, Hermana Perry

This is the lady that reminds Ashlyn of Sister "V" in her home ward, her personality, mannerism, etc. Ashlyn says she is the Dominican Sister "V".

Ashlyn is being transferred to La Yuca, and this is Yuca. This is in a members house.