P-Day # 72 - Exchanges, A Wild Birthday Party and Prepping for Smartphones...

Elder Perry - "We have 8 Inches of Snow!!!"

This week we have been working really hard on getting our area ready for our smartphones. We have been able to go through our list and they are ready to be put into the phones.

We were able to teach our investigators this week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were enthusiastic about it and have been reading the Book of Mormon consistently. We are now working to have them come to church consistently and I think we will be able to set a baptismal date with them pretty soon.

We had a great lesson with one investigator and she had read 5 chapters of the Book of Mormon in two days. We were able to download the Gospel library app on her phone, so she would have all the scriptures on her phone. She said that she felt good about reading it and that it was a good book because she didn't fall asleep reading it.

 

Elder Perry - Selfie!!!

I also had exchanges with our Zone Leaders this week and I really liked it. We were able to have Missionary Coordination meeting with the Kingston Branch Ward Mission Leader. He was really nice and was really involved with the branches missionary efforts.

We were able to also meet with man who wanted to come to church. We answered some of his questions answered about why we go to church and why it was important to go. He made the commitment to come to church on Sunday so I am hoping he will come.

So, My AWESOME companion, Elder DeVries, gave me this Birthday card. You have to click on this and read it! It's Awesome!

What can I say, Elder DeVries is blast to work with!!!!

I have 2 exchanges, a Zone Conference and President Shields has us in a Live Nativity in Kingston, this upcoming week. That will be interesting. It will be busy, again!

BONUS VIDEO - How does Elder Perry feel about those who don't keep their areas records updated??? Click on this...

Elder Perry - Keep Your Records Updated, Please!

Love You and remember, I pray for you every night & day!

Elder Perry

Napanee Branch, Ontario

Kingston District

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day # 71 - Awesome Nativity Exhibit, Playing the Piano and New T-Shirts...

Elder Perry Playing Piano at The Napanee Nativity Exhibit

Parents Note: Happy 20th Birthday Elder Perry! We Love You! Mom & Dad

This week, The Napanee Branch had our Annual Nativity Exhibit. Here are several Pictures... Click on the picture to make larger...

We have been setting up for this nativity event for over a week. We had a lot of visitors and we were very busy talking to them and answering their questions. I think it gave people a different perspective on who we are and what we believe. I was able to play the piano for a solid three hours while we were waiting for other musical guest to arrive. Some of the other musical numbers were really loud and so when they left, there was no one to play the piano but audio tapes and the tapes didn't do it any justice. I had to refresh myself on how to play from the Hymns Made Easy Book. I did notice the Lord guiding my fingers and it sounded good. I know I was blessed. I made a couple errors now and again, but overall, I know it helped invite the Spirit into the exhibit.  The members were really awesome, too. They were able to teach people about the Gospel as I sat and played. My companion Elder DeVries and I could hear members teaching the Restoration and "Bearing Testimonies" about its truthfulness. It was fantastic to see and really helped build trust between us, the members and the visitors. After getting the entire chapel ready for 3 days putting up all the nativity’s, it took two and a half hours to take them down.

We were able to sit down with our Branch President and move some records out of the branch. We were blessed to be able to bring our branch list from four pages down to two pages. Now we will be able to work with an accurate branch list.

Thanks for the Birthday/Christmas Shirts...They're Awesome!

We weren't able to meet with our main investigators this week because they were sick. A quick drop by we think helped let them know that we care about them. We were able to give one of them a large print Book of Mormon. He could read it much better and was very thankful. We will continue to seek new investigators and strengthen the branch here.

A Very Tired Elder Perry 

We talked with a potential investigator, but we really didn't talk much. He was very talkative. We didn't really have a chance to talk in the lesson, so we just sat and listened. He does video ministries and all we could do was look at each other thinking “where is your authority to do the laying on of hands?” Stay tuned for our next update...

We have been teaching the Addiction Recovery Program. This is a really interesting program. I'm thankful the Lord has this program in place. 

This has been our week doing the Lords work.

Love You Mom and Dad and remember, I pray for you every night & day!

Elder Perry

Napanee Branch, Ontario

Kingston District

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #70 - Christmas Party, Nativity Displays and Marching in the Napanee Christmas Parade...

Elder Perry Helping A Member Fall a Tree!!!

This week has been a fantastic week for us.

We were able to do a church service in a retirement home about an hour away from Napanee. Our investigator that lives two hours away from Napanee came to that service. As we greeted all the retired members of the home, their faces brightened as we shook their hands and our investigator seemed to have liked the service, also. We were able to celebrate his birthday! I think that that was the best part of my day.

Elder Perry Playing it Cool!

We were able to have another investigator come to church this week. I was excited to see her there. She came a little early, so we were able to explain a little about what went on during Sacrament Meeting. We talked to her about Prophets and the Organization of the Church. She looked like she enjoyed the service and it made us happy that she was having a good time. We were also able to teach her the Restoration this week and she understood. She is awesome.

Elder Perry Gettin' Er' Done!

We were able to help set up a Nativity Float and march in the parade handing out flyers as we went by, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. The little kids would be happy when we would wave to them and they would wave back. At the last minute, the lights stopped working on our float.  We had no lights on our float but, it was good because one of our investigators husband could get really bad medical problems with all the lights. Apparently lots of lights and blinking lights causes seizures. He would have had to turn his head way from the floats, but when ours came by, he was able to see a blown up nativity on the back of a truck and look at our float so it all worked out. One of those Christmas Miracles!

Advertising the Nativity Display on Our Branch Float!

We had a Christmas Party and helped the branch set up for it. We were able to have our investigator, the one who came to church, come to the party. Her and her family had a great time. We think they had fun. During the Christmas party, they played a game where we all got little gifts. As the narrator said left or right, we had to pass the gifts to one another. We didn't expect to do anything with the gifts. We were just happy that our investigator came to the party and they were having a good time. But the branch wanted us to come anyway with something and my gift was a missionary approved movie night! YEA!

My Goodies from our Branch Christmas Party!

We have been setting up a Nativity Exhibit for the Town of Napanee. We have around 150 nativities that are on display. We converted our chapel into a display room. I will send pictures when it is all set up with the displays.

Setting-Up For The Nativity Displays...

We helped a member cut down a tree this week (see above pictures). The tree came up by the roots in a wind storm and blew over in an odd layout. He had a smaller chainsaw, but rented a bigger one because the tree was pretty big. Apparently, I was the “resident expert” to run “the big chainsaw” since I had so much experience doing all the wood cuts with our branch scouts (Thanks Bro. Jordan and The Vernonia Branch). I not only fell the tree, but cut the tree into big rounds. I thought it was pretty fun. I was a little scared because the tree got hung on another tree when I cut the bottom off. The tree was literally hanging in the air. We had to tie off a ladder and tie myself to the ladder to cut it down. It is a little nerve racking when the tree you cut the limb off of, shakes a little and you have a chain saw in your hand. But, all ended safely and well. We will be helping them load the wood sometime in the future.

My Wonderful Companion Elder DeVries, He's So Much Fun!

Love You Mom & Dad and remember, I pray for you every night & day!

Elder Perry

Napanee, Ontario

Kingston District

Canada Toronto Mission  

P-Day # 69 - Teaching Investigators, Being a "District Leader"" and a Perpetually Dirty Car...

Elder Perry and the Nissan Rogue
after driving the back roads in Napanee,ON

Hi Mom & Dad, 

This week has been a busy one. We have been working with our investigators to help them progress. We taught one investigator who lives in the middle of the woods. As we taught, we were able to teach about the Plan of Salvation and he understood it all. He tried to keep the commitment we gave him to read the Book of Mormon, but he only read about half because he has a hard time reading the smaller print. We got him a bigger print so he can read it better. We are hoping that he will come to a sacrament service we are having that is a little closer to his home.

Our Area got authorization from President Hinkley when he was here to have Sacrament Meeting at an Elderly Nursing Home. They have been doing it once a month ever since. It brings some good comfort and the people love that we come in professional dress and act like “Real Preachers”. The other “Preachers” come in jean or shorts and a tee shirt.  We do have speakers, but we just help with the sacrament.

We were able to teach a family the Restoration this week and The Spirit was in the room. They understood and asked some really good questions about the church's stance on the family and current topics. They mentioned that they believe what we believe in so I think it was a really good meeting and we will be teaching them again this week.

We have been working through former records and have been able to update some and have been able to put some together with our current investigators. We thought that they were brand new investigators, so our records are hopefully fully complete by the time we get the smartphones.

I have been trying to learn this whole District Leader thing and I think I am doing pretty good at it. My first District Meeting went pretty good. I do get to talk to other missionaries more, so that is pretty fun. I get to hear all the crazy stories that happen to other missionaries, that’s pretty cool. I think I am a fun leader. I am doing what I’m supposed to do in the meetings and I laugh with the members of my district. We are having a good time.

We have a training call on Saturday and I think it will be fun. All the other District Leaders that I have served around or have served with will be on the call. I think it's pretty cool I only communicate with the Zone Leaders…except for the training call. That one was led by President Shields

We had a funny experience this week. We were teaching some people that just got out of jail and when the cops came into the drive through, the woman started telling the man to go to the bathroom because they aren't supposed to be seen together due to restraining orders against each other. It was pretty funny, but the police didn’t even see them.

We have been driving back roads this week trying to save some “Kilometers” and have been going through plain mud roads. It reminds me of a lot of Vernonia. No matter how many times you wash it, it gets dirty the first 10 feet out of the car wash. 

Congratulations to my cousin Toby. He is a Deacon! That seems Impossible!

Love You Mom & Dad and Remember I Pray for you every Night & Day!

Elder Perry

Napanee, Ontario

Kingston District

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #68 - Called as a District Leader, Smart Phones and More Records Updating...

Elder Perry on the Napanee River Boardwalk

Hi Mom & Dad, 

This week has been a decent week for us.

We have been updating our records in preparation for the smart phones we will be getting so we will be able to have accurate records on the area book app. In the process of updating records, we stopped by to confirm an address of a member and in the process found out the he did not live there anymore but the person who did live there was willing to hear about our message.  After we shared with her about the state of spirits after they die in Alma 40, she said that it was nice and was willing to let us come back and teach her. We came back and she seemed to like our message and she committed to read the Book of Mormon. Nice to see the blessings of updating the records, even if they have moved away.

We were able to meet with our investigator who lives an hour and forty five away and teach him about the Restoration. He understood and liked what we had to say. It was cold outside but at the same time, I knew that the cold was worth it. We will be getting him a large print so he can read it better.

We also were able to talk to our other investigator and her husband came out of the woods from hunting with a shotgun. After we talked with him, he was interested in hearing our message, too. The shotgun was a welcome site. I haven't seen one in over a year. It made me miss my Remington 870 Express 12 Gauge back home.     

We also were able to talk to one of our investigators husband this week and after a discussion of trucks stuck in the mud and the Book of Mormon, he allowed us to come back and he would like sit in on the discussion too. The Lords blessings are real.  

We have also been updating our branch list and have talked with the Branch President about being called as Assistant Ward Clerks so we would have access on www.lds.org to move records and help the branch clean up the branch list. We have all the records in a position for them to be moved. We hope to have it all done by the new year. It will be more effective for the branch and the missionaries.

Elder Perry at the Napanee Railroad Station

We have seen church members engaged in missionary work and have been working on referrals for us. This is what makes a missionary’s life easier is member referrals.

On another note, on Sunday night we had a guy follow us into the church parking lot and proceed to yell at us for following too close, even though we were at a safe following distance. He had a huge jacked up new pickup. We drove away and he followed us but went back to his house which was right across the street from the church. We drove back hoping that he would leave us alone, but he proceeded to walk back and yell at us some more. I had to call the Police to get him to leave the property and to leave us alone. I hope that he was just having a bad night, but we’ll see.

Just after talking to the Police, our Mission President called me. I was thinking in my mind…"How did he hear of this already???"  When I started to talk to him, he assigned me to be a District Leader for my companionship and 3 other companionship's. Wow, what a great opportunity. I will be training other missionaries and spreading the Gospel! Awesome Sauce! It’s been one crazy Sabbath. However the Blessings are Awesome!  

Love You and remember,  I Pray for You Every Night & Day!

Elder Perry, District Leader
Napanee, Ontario
Kingston Ontario District
Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #67 - It's Getting Colder(Brrrrr), Cleaning Up Records and Teaching About Revelation....

Elder Perry and a Canadian 2 Dollar Coin called a "Toonie"

Hi Mom and Dad, 

This week was very busy for us.

We were able to talk with one of our investigators about revelation and how to receive it. He was interested in the Joseph Smith translation and if anything had been changed or left out. We told him that some plain and precious truth has been lost. We read about that and I think that we taught powerfully and clearly the doctrine we had learned in our personal studies. I think we were able to help him increase his faith in Jesus Christ.

We were able to give a blessing to another investigator who found out that his cancer came back. We were able to talk about Gods love for him and how Christ suffered for all our pains. All in all, I think that we were able to help him move closer to Christ.

We have been working with our Branch on its member list and have found parts that need to be updated. Previous missionaries have not kept up on the records so we have to go through them ourselves. Our Branch hasn't had a Branch Clerk and there are 56 people that need to be move off our list. The Branch Presidency was impressed because we have been talking about this list for 5 weeks, so they we impressed that we set specific plans to do it this week. The District Leaders were out too, so it made us look awesome. 

We have also been going through our former investigator records and seeing if anyone was still interested in learning. We have not had any luck so far but we will keep trying. Keep Praying for us.

We have also been working on helping our Branch sand and paint some pieces of furniture for our branches nativity exhibit they do every year. Its turning out good however, it is taking time to paint with the multiple coats and the temperature being very cold.

We had the opportunity to go to a Remembrance Day ceremony (Memorial Day in the U.S.) and watch as they placed wreaths on the memorial. It was a fantastic ceremony. When we remember those, who have given so much, we are able to have gratitude for all that has been done for us.

We taught Sunday School with one-hour prep time, reading the lesson in the middle of sacrament meeting. I don’t recommend this as a normal procedure, due to missing the spiritual lessons in Sacrament. We were asked just before the service started.

I found out that the last name of our investigators is Longmire.  I Like the TV show “Longmire”.

I was working in another area on exchanges and it went well. We were able to talk to an investigator about his moose hunt and how the Lord blessed him with it. I was able to get the contact information for the area Elders so it was a good contact.

It’s been getting cold here and it’s been getting into the negatives. The wind can make the temperature go down really fast. It was really cold when we went to the Remembrance Day ceremony.

Love You Lots, and Remember, I Pray for You Every Night & Day!

Elder Perry
Napanee, Ontario
Kingston District
Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #66 - Zone Conference, a Visiting Seventy and Understanding The Lords Timing...

Elder Perry, Napanee, Ontario, Canada

This week was a good week for us.

We had Elder Pearson from the Seventy come and speak this week and he said some great things. He taught about having a vision of where we want to go, then gaining the knowledge to accomplish our goals, understanding the knowledge that is given and then acting on everything that we have learned. He talked about revelation and he said "own up and grow up". He talked about obedience and about teaching by the Spirit. It was really good. I liked it a lot. We were there for six hours and we got a lot of really great things. He talked about how when we are pushed to our capacity and beyond, only then are we able to gain more. Gee, do I know about that!

We had an experience this week that helped me understand about the Lords timing and planning. We drove to see one of our investigators in the northern part of our area and as we drove we received a phone call that lasted just 5 seconds. We were in an area where, there was no cell reception for the rest of the drive. We made a note to call him back once we got back into range. 

We drove all the way to find that our investigator was sick with the flu and wasn't able to meet. We were able to leave her with a commitment in preparation for our next meeting and because of circumstances surrounding the area, we decided to drive back.

Elder Perry and Elder DeVries

We stopped by another investigators house but were unable to meet with him. As we were driving home, we called the number back. It turns out that a member called and asked if we would be willing to give a blessing and her house was only 20 min away (when normally it would be 45 min to an hour away from home). We were able to be there within the hour and gave the member a blessing. We found out later that the problem that they had found at the hospital a couple weeks before, was gone when they went back for their next appointment and that they could find no sign of any problem.

This made me think of the scripture Moroni 7: 27-29 in the Book of Mormon:

   

27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?

28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

Also, we were knocking on doors and this guy came out with a closed pocket knife in his hand. He told us that he followed Satan and that we should get off of his property. I asked him some questions but in the end, he still wasn't ready to listen. 

A couple of exciting things also, we got more miles for our area. It’s a big area and we were always going over our mileage. This helps quite a bit. We are also getting smart phones because they put an Understanding Technology Web Based Training Class on our mission portal. We are pretty excited about it.

All in all, it’s been a good week. I’d like to thank all of you  who are praying for us,  to be able to find more investigators and have added our names to the prayer rolls in the temples…You all know who you are!!!

Love You Mom and Dad, and remember…

I Pray for You Every Night and Day!

Elder Perry

Napanee, Ontario

Kingston District

Canada Toronto Mission 

P-Day # 65 - Rejection, Over Mileage(Kilometers) and Still Trying to Find the One....

Hi Mom & Dad, 

This week has been a busy week for us with a couple of unforeseen events.

We have been working really hard on finding new people to teach and have tried multiple ways to share our message about the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with others. This had lead us to travel far and wide to find those places where we can find the people. So far and wide, we went over our "K's" or kilometers. 

We had some appointments set with some investigators who live in the northern part of our area. We drove to those appointments and as we got there, one of the appointments had a family emergency and the other proceeded to give us back our Book of Mormon and tell us that she couldn't meet with us anymore. We left saddened but we understood why she couldn't meet with us.

One positive note during all the rejection,  a member needed a Blessing and "Thankfully" we were in the area.

We have continued to work diligently on trying to find new investigators with little success, but we will keep trying. 

We were able to do some service for our Branch President this week by helping take down his play structure and move it into storage. It rained the whole time we were doing it, but it felt really good afterwards to have helped him.

We were able to help a lady who had fallen this week get back up. She had been trying to clean things up and had taken a pretty nasty fall. It's a good thing we were in town and able to help with little delay. I think we were faster than the fire department would have been.

We have been talking to everyone we come into contact with about the gospel and will continue to talk to everyone and keep working.

Please Continue to pray for us and all the missionaries, prayer always helps. 

Love You Mom & Dad and remember....I pray for you every night and day....

Elder Perry

Napanee Branch

Kingston Zone

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #64 - From 0 to 6, Putting On The Miles and Finding A Special Letter...

Elder Perry...Out Standing In His Field...
In Napanee ,Ontario

This week has been a week of miracles.

We started off the week with no investigators and decided that the best way to find new investigators is to get out of the apartment and go talk to everyone we see. We decided that we would try some of the towns that are out away from Napanee so that when the winter hits, we or the next elders won't have to drive in winter conditions out into the country side.

We started by going to a town called Denbigh. It’s a very small town but we find that if you are willing to work for it, the Lord will bless you for your efforts. We started knocking on every door we could find. We have been able to find some potentials in the area and as we knocked on a door we had passed by earlier, a lady came and opened it. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and were able to set up a return appointment with her. 

Standing on A Dog Sled in the Off Season...

We were able to visit some other towns near there and were driving by a long drive way when we felt that we needed to stop and knock on a specific door. We knocked and were able to meet a man who was going through a rough time in his life. We were able to talk to him about trials and faith. We were also able to set a return appointment with him and we will be seeing him this week.

We have had the same kind of spiritual experiences with four other people.  We will be trying to set up another appointments with them or already have appointments.

The last experience we had that really touched us is; we were driving by a sky viewing point and I thought that it would be cool to just stop and check it out. I didn't get any bad feelings or any indication that we were just wasting time. As we looked around and were about to leave, we looked inside a box.  As we did, we found a note of a man who wanted to know about the signs of the coming of Christ. The letter had his address and contact information. He lives in one of the French areas, the Quebec/Val D'or area were I first served when I arrived here in Canada. We were able to pass on the information to the Elders serving there now. When we take the time to slow down and listen to the promptings that are given to us, that is when we can be effective disciples of Jesus Christ. The Spirit speaks to us.  We just need to listen and feel the promptings.

On Sunday, I taught Elders Quorum and played the piano. It's like I am back home.  

Elder Perry by One of the Lakes in His Area...

Over the past week, I think we have driven far enough to go to Idaho one way from Vernonia. We have a very big area. I found out that we have eight French speakers in the mission so I don't know if I will be going back to French in Quebec or not.

We have heard a rumor that we will be getting smart phones in November but it’s just a rumor. Sounds like the church is picking up the pace on technology in the mission field.

Today, we had to go shopping and wait for laundry to be done. We were then going to email but the computers were in use so we had to wait until now. We drove thirty minutes to Kingston to realize that Elder De Vries forgot his wallet that he needed to by a new sweater for missionary work. We stopped into a Columbia Outlet store because I had never been in one of those before.  I thought it was a lot like REI. We thought it was pretty cool. We drove back to grab his wallet, had lunch and then drove back to Kingston to play sports as a zone. We went to Costco to get the sweater, had  dinner and came back. It's been a very busy day!

Elder De Vries and Elder Perry

We went from teaching no people to now we are teaching six in a week. We have been truly blessed this week. The Spirit is amazing.

Elder Perry

Napanee, Ontario

Kingston Zone

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #63 – District Conference, Getting to Know Nepanee, Ontario and "The Big Woosh"...

This week was a lot of driving for us.

We had District Conference this week and I thought that the talks were great. It’s funny that they started talking about the children in the church and how we are supposed to teach our children the Doctrine of Christ. I was sitting in the congregation and before those talks were given, I knew that the following three talks were going to be given on teaching children and that they would be changed talks from the ones that were already prepared. I also enjoyed our Mission Presidents talk on forgiveness. We had a Seventy come to the District Conference and he gave some training to all the Branch Presidents and I was able to attend the same meeting. I thought it was pretty funny, a lot of the questions that the Branch Presidents were asking could be found in Preach My Gospel. This tells me that a lot of leadership haven't even read it. It really blew me away.

If you really want to find out what we teach and what we are taught to do with Ward Leaders and as a missionary, read chapter 13 of Preach My Gospel. Most people assume that its only for missionaries, but it's really for everyone families included. A lot of answers can be found in reading the lessons in chapter three. 

The area is a lot like Vernonia. We met with the Branch President and he is great! We helped him move the first full day we were here and a couple of days after that. I think we have a really good relationship with him. We talked to the First Counselor in the Branch Presidency and he filled us in on what we typically do in the branch. He gave us a lot of good advice and some things that he would like to see change in the branch. He’s a good guy also! 

We were able to set some goals on what we would like to see happen to our area. We will be traveling to different areas to work and see what the most effective places and area's will be to work in.

We were able to meet with a member this week who was very helpful in helping us understand the area better.  They also gave us some insight on what he would like to see change in the branch. We will be working closely with the Branch President to help implement some of those changes. I think we will do a lot of good in this area and that we will be able to help the area progress.  Almost just like home.

Funny Story…. On P-Day, We had a hard time starting the grill and then, when I put the lit piece of paper near the burners… the thing went in a big fire ball…it was just a big whoosh of flames. Unknown to me, my companion had opened the burners all the way and the gas had built up. This whoosh, scared the crud out of me! We were able to grill the hot dogs and then we went to the church and played basketball and Ping-Pong with some sisters in our district.  Glad I still have my hair and eyebrows. I know the Lord protects his Missionaries. 

I am happy to have the Nissan Rouge back. I fit into the Rogue much better than the Subaru we had. One of these p-days we will be going fishing. We found two fishing rods in our apartment with gear and the salmon are running up river so it should be fun. We also have some and some light houses along the lake shore so that should be cool to see.  We will be doing some more driving tomorrow and we are going to be seeing what is in our area and finding out where the best places to tract and teach are too. Due to District Conference we haven’t really been able to get to know our area much yet, but we’re on it.

Love You and remember, I Pray for You Every Night and Day!

Elder Perry

Napanee Branch

Kingston Ontario District

Canada Toronto Mission