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