Sister Ashlyn Don Perry

Monday, October 13, 2014

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

Week 20 : Pouring Beers Out (Sept 1)

Ay Mi Madre what a crazy week.

So on tuesday we were walking to a cita with a less active lady and we say Carlos (our progressing investigator) driving his little scooter. He saw us and stopped and the first words out of his mouth were "Yo bebi." --- "I drank." Ugh my heart sank. He was progressing soooo well. Just a few days before he told us that he was only 5% from being Mormon. I was soooo sad. He was really drunk too. We asked him what happened and he just said he was sad so he decided to drink. As we kept talking to him and expressing how dissappointed we were in him, he didn't even seem to care. He just kept laughing and joking. I was getting to mad and he didn't even seem like he actually knew what was going on. He had a beer in his and was slowy drinking it and it was making so mad, so I took the beer from his hand and I poured it in the street. It didn't even seem to faze him. He told us he wanted another beer but we told him "heck NO" so finally he told us he would go home. We finally left because we had to get to a cita. I wanted to cry so bad as we were standing there with him. It broke my heart to see him that way and see how much progress he lost. So we went to the next cita and my head was still a little jumbled. As we were walking to the next cita, who do we see? Yup, Carlos. At the Bar. With another big beer. I was sooooo mad. We chewed him out pretty good and then went and told his mother. She had no idea where he was but when we told her, she said "don't you even worry, I will tell him. Oh you'll see, don't even worry." Haha I love his Mom. Later in the week we went to talk him he felt soooo bad. He looked like a little puppy who just ripped up the couch. He knew he was in trouble with us. As we talked about what happened, he told us that he was getting his hair cut and he heard a voice in his head that said "Go home and read the Book of Mormon." He brushed it off but then heard it again "Go home and read the Book or Mormon." Somehow among those thoughts he decided to go drink. He ended up getting really sick the next day and ended up in the Hospital.... Secretly Hermana Hernandez and I were praying that he would feel really bad and be really sick... haha it worked ;P We helped him realize that those voices were the spirit. It was sad that he relapsed, but I think it was necessary for him to really gain a testimony.

So that same day that we found Carlos drinking in the streets (it was quite an eventful day), we were visiting our other really awesome investigator, Karubi, and her mom comes out in a towel (keep in mind that Karubi, her friends, and her brothers were all there, and the front door was wide open). Hermana Hernandez jokingly said, "you need to put some clothes on while the missionaries are here." So her mom said "What are you afraid to see this?" and rips off her towel flashing all of us!!! Oh my gosh... Everyone was laughing, except me and Hermana Hermandez who screemed. I dont think we will be visiting her mother again any time soon...

Today was an eventful day. We got up at 5 and went on a "45 minute walk" to some waterfalls. Our district President took us and it was really cool. Except for the fact that we didn't get back until 3:30 pm. And it was much more that just a "walk". We crossed the same river probably 30 times no joke, scaled the side of the mountain that was covered in foliage (I have no idea if that is spelled right..). But we did seem some amazing things. The waterfalls were unbelieveable and everything is sooo green. SO Green. I love the DR soooo much. I can't even express. Presidente Brito got us a little lost and I got eaten by bugs. But it was worth it.

Crazy week, as always, but awesome. My first temple trip tomorrow!! SO EXCITED!!

Love you all!! The Church is true. There is nothing like a mission.

Love, Hermana Perry