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