Thursday, August 9, 2018

P-Day #104 - Final Entry, Leaving the CTM and Returning Home...

I'm Home....Hugs for Everyone!!!!

This week was my final week here in the mission field. It has been a very good week here.

We had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting this week about missionary work and how members can be missionaries and have the same skills that missionaries do. I think the talk went very well and I feel that it helped in some way for some one.
 
Of Course, Mom Gets the First Hug....Missed Her Sooooooo Much!

We also had the opportunity teach one of our investigators about repentance and how when we have repented. We don't need to dig up old garbage and re-live the guilt that we felt when we did something wrong. She seemed grateful and she couldn't stop smiling during the lesson. We could stop smiling either because we could see the connections that she was making and the progress that she was experiencing. 

August 1st, 2018 Missionaries Going Home...

 We were able to teach our recent convert the rest of the missionary lessons and help her find some more chapels that she could attend on her travels. She was happy that we had taught her the missionary discussions and she was also a little sad that we were going to be leaving. So were we.

Our Branch had a Face2Face with 2 other Missionaries that returned this Month, Jared Medearis (California, Riverside Mission) and Mariah Cook (Canada Edmonton Mission). Over 50 attended...


We had the privilege to do some service for a member and help her clean out her shed. She was concerned about her things being on the ground and getting rotted out so we put some card board on some bricks to get it up off the ground.

Service to The End...Jacob Cleaned the Vernonia
Branch Font for a Chapel Tour...


As this is the last blog of my mission, I would like to thanks all of my family and friends that have supported me in this adventure.  I would like to leave you with my knowledge and testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and that our Heavenly Father loves each one of us. He hears and answers our prayers. He loves us and wants us to return to live with Him. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God and that The Church of Jesus Christ is here on the earth today.



I am so very blessed to have served a Mission for Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....Til' We Meet Again...

Elder Jacob "JP" Perry
Scarbarough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission


P.S. To contact me, use atvking@frontier.com

Sunday, July 29, 2018

P-Day # 103 - Great Lessons, Exchanges and The Infamous Milk Jug Date.....



HI Mom and Dad, 

This week, we had the opportunity to teach our investigator the Law of Chastity and we also followed up on the commitment we left her to pray about baptism. As we started talking to her, she related that she felt like she had received an answer to her prayers but just didn't have the "umph" to set a date. We are hoping with time that she will set a date.

We also had the privilege of teaching our recent convert about eternal marriage and also about missionary work. She had some great questions and she is really excited to go to the temple and do baptism for her ancestors.

Mom Found My Mission Return Date on The Milk Jug
...So It's Getting Close!

We went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders this week and we were able to work effectively and also teach effectively too. We were able to talk with a man about The Book of Mormon and how it relates to the Bible. He didn't seem very interested at first but after we talked to him a little bit more, he said that we could come back. We are hoping that we can meet with him this upcoming week. It’s been a good week.

Love You and Remember, I Pray for you every night & day!

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission



Wednesday, July 18, 2018

P-Day #102 - Going to Jail, Having A Baptism & Visiting the CN Tower...


HI Mom and Dad, 

This week we were able to have a baptism. Our investigator made her date for baptism and we are so happy she made this promise with God. We had a lot of preparations to make before the baptism. 


Cleaning the font and making the program, which was a MIRACLE, then we were able to get all the things we needed to do done before it started. Things went great and we were able to confirm her this past Sunday making her a member of the church. She was very happy and the ward welcomed her with open arms. Happy Days!


We had the opportunity to do some service for a Sister in the Ward. She needed some help weeding her steps around her house. We were able to help her hang up a wind sock in the shape of a fish. I thought it was pretty cool. She was grateful that we had come over and all was well with her.


We also had an opportunity to go visit a friend who is in jail and teach him about how we can find peace even in the midst of trials and conflict. We taught about seeing the bright side of things even when they look so bleak. He told us that our visits helped him and that he would like to keep having visits from us. We told him that we could keep doing that and he was happy.

All in all, I think we did a lot of good this week.


On Monday, our P-Day, we were able to go the CN Tower, Ontario's version of the Space Needle...Enjoy the pics...

Love You and Remember I pray for you every night and day!

Elder Perry
Scarbarough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission









Saturday, July 14, 2018

P-Day #101 - Baptism Date Set, A Members 100th Birthday Party and "Top Gun" Hamburgers...

MMMMMM...I'm Hungry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Mom & Dad, 

This week, we had the opportunity to teach one of our new investigators the Word of Wisdom and in the middle of the lesson she told us that she spoke French. So, I had the opportunity to share the gospel in French with her and she was excited that she had found another person who spoke French in the area. She spoke really good English, too! So, either language was working for her. We were able to teach her the Restoration and about how the Gospel can bless families. 

My Companion Elder Heppner Having Some Fun!!!

We also had the opportunity to teach some of the last lessons that need to be taught before Baptism to our investigator who is going to be baptized in the upcoming week. We were able to show her the baptismal font and talk with her about how it will be done, so she wouldn't be nervous. She seemed to like it and she is still excited about it. 

Scarborough, Ontario outside of Toronto at Night....

We were able to participate in a celebration for a man in our ward who turned 100 this week and it was great to see all of his family gather around and see the joy that he had through his 100 year life. 

MMMMMM, Told You I Was Hungry!!!!!!!

I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Farsi speaking Missionaries and teach with the other Elder the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was great being able to talk with him about what he called "was missing" from other religions.

This is a quick Blog this week.

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

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission 

Friday, July 6, 2018

P-Day #100 - Teaching Great Lessons, The Toronto Waterfront and T-Bone Steaks....



Hi Mom and Dad,

This week we were able to have a great lesson with our investigator. We were able to teach her the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom in one lesson and she said that she would live both. We then asked her if she would read the Law of Tithing pamphlets for next lesson and she said "Oh that one, I already read that and ya, I can live the Law of Tithing". We were surprised! We then briefly went over the law and she understood it all. It was awesome the Spirit prepared her in every way.



We had the opportunity to meet with a man who was in jail. He has been going through some rough things in his life and we were able to talk to him about trials and how trials can help us become stronger. He seemed grateful that we had stopped by and I think we helped him in a small way. We had another great lesson with another investigator about the Restoration. He told us that it made sense and had some other great questions about the church.  We look forward to teaching him.



We had the opportunity to do some service for a sister in the ward and planted some flowers for her. We also gave her a Priesthood Blessing. She was grateful and she said that we had brightened up her day. For our P-Day, we went to Toronto and walked around the Waterfront. They had this cool sidewalk that they made that looked like waves. They call it the "Wave-deck".



Also found a Great Steak Place called T-Bones Sizzling Steaks & Burgers Drive-In Restaurant. By the way, I may have to use my personal debit card a few times this month...haha!

Here are some more pics from the water front.

Remember I love You and Pray for you every night and day!

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission



  


Friday, June 29, 2018

P-Day #99 - Baptism Date Set, Golden Investigators and Getting Lost On Our Way to District Meeting...


This week we were able to teach our investigator the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson especially with her member friends there because they were able to testify about the truths that we were teaching. We also were able to talk to her about her baptismal date. It has been set for the 13 of July so, we are pretty happy about it. We are optimistic that she will make her date. 



We had the opportunity to teach another investigator the Word of Wisdom and she said that she was pretty much already living it so there would be no worries with it. We were ecstatic and we look forward to teaching her in the future. 



We had our district meeting this week in a chapel that was very far away so, as we took to the subways, we got lost about three or four times. We were late but my companion was still able to give his instruction and his role play was great. 

We also were able to find a new investigator this week through a referral received from some missionaries and he actually came to church.  He seemed to enjoy it and he asked some really good questions such as "why doesn't our church have crosses on them" and "what is the deal with no drinking coffee and tea here"? We were able to answer those and he seemed grateful. We will be teaching him this week and we are looking forward to the lesson.



Getting lost on the subway was a good thing because we were able to find ourselves by Rogers Center where the Toronto Blue-Jays play. Its right by the Toronto CN Tower and a Railroad Museum. Getting lost paid off!

I have 2 pair of Dansko shoes I used every other day....they held up pretty good, ea'?

Here are some more pics from downtown...I'm not in Vernonia anymore....

Remember, I love you and pray for you every night and day!

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission






Monday, June 25, 2018

P-Day #98 - Great Investigators, Doing Some Service and My Companion Monkeying Around....




Hi Mom and Dad, 

This week was good and awesome.

I hear Aunt Mary(Dad's Brother's Wife) got Baptised in Massachusetts. YEA!!! That is AWESOME! 

We had the opportunity to teach our investigators this week and had two of them come to church.  We were able to teach one of them about faith and how faith leads to action. She was going through some very stressful things and she seemed like she was calmer about it. I think we did some good. Spreading the Gospel is a blessing.

We also were able to teach another investigator about the Plan of Salvation. During the lesson she began to ask us all these questions she had thought about during the week. We taught her about Baptism and about how she felt as she read the Book of Mormon. She told us that she felt happy and that the book was good. She then asked us what the qualifications for baptism were. We were able to go over those with her and invited her to pray about a date that she would like to be baptized. She looked very happy and It was awesome being able to see the happiness radiating the room. Please continue to pray for her. It's working!


We've been breaking up concrete again.  We had the opportunity to also do some service for a sister and plant some flowers in her flower bed. She was able to direct us on where to plant them and she was grateful that we had come to help her plant them. 

We have been doing great and I will continue to be working here in the area for another six weeks as this will most likely be my last area of my mission. 

Elder Heppler Having A Little Fun!

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

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission

Friday, June 15, 2018

P-Day #97 - My Companion Being Assaulted, The Subway and It's Hammer Time....

Elder Perry in the Subway....Toronto, Canada

Hi Mom and Dad, 

This week we had the opportunity to teach a new investigator the restoration. Her friend had told her about the missionaries and how they have helped her feel peace. Her friend wanted to know more so we were able to help with that and taught her. We asked her at the end of the lesson if she wanted to learn about the answers to the three main questions of life. 

Where did I come from? 

Why am I here? 

And, where am I going after this life?

She said yes! So I take that as, we made a good impression.
The Spirit is working! 


On the Bank of One of the Great Lakes, Lake Ontario...

We taught another investigator about baptism and proper priesthood authority. As we talked you could see their countenance change and she was very willing to pray about the need to be baptized again. We had the opportunity to help build a walkway for a member by breaking up concrete with sledge hammers. She was very impressed that we had broken it up so quickly. We were able put in some stone slabs and rocks to create a new path. We watched President and Sister Nelson's devotional for the youth. I thought it was pretty cool President Nelson "Threw Down" on social media. I see what he's talking about everywhere I go.


Why Yes, We DO Need to Mow the Grass....

Also, another funny story...We were eating in Wendy's and this college girl comes over to our table. She was as high as a kite, obviously on something. She asked us a few questions and then rubs her hand on my companions face before walking away. It was so funny ....I could see in his eyes him thinking "I was just spiritually and physically assaulted"...He didn't know what to do... We survived another day in the field......Hahahahaha 

Things have been going very well and we are looking forward to the coming week.

Here are some pics of the scenery...Enjoy...Gods Creations are Beautiful!







Love You And Remember, I pray for you every night and day!!!

Elder Perry
Scarborough Ward
Toronto Stake
Canada Toronto Mission 

Saturday, June 9, 2018

P-Day #96 - Lots of Investigators, P-Day Fun and Still Traveling Like a Seventy...



Hi Mom and Dad,

I was emergency transferred to the Scarborough area with a new companion Elder Heppler. His previous companion was moved to another area so, since I was in a tri-companionship…I’m the first to fill a gap. Still traveling like a seventy right up until the end!

I have been working hard on learning the area and the members and I think that it’s going well.


We had the opportunity to build some shelves with a couple members. They turned out really good.

We also had the opportunity to visit some members in a hospital this week. We got to talk to them about how they were doing and we also got to talk to them about enduring trials with patience.


We have been working with our investigators to help them progress. We were able to teach one of them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and extended a baptismal invitation. She said that she would have to pray about it which was a good sign that she wants to find out for herself.

We were able to have an investigator lesson with another sister who really wanted to meet with us and learn more about the church because her friends had told her so much about it and how they loved the church. We were able to teach a lesson on the restoration and her friend was able to give her a Book of Mormon during the lesson. She seemed grateful we had come and we asked her if she would like to learn more. She said that she would be interested and we also extended the invitation to her to come to church with her friend. We will be coordinating with the friend and setting up another appointment so we can teach this member friend.


Megan, Thanks for helping me get my classes setup at BYU-I. Mom, Megan and Dad, thanks for getting my housing setup, too. It’s good to know where I am going, and it is already waiting for me.


We have been doing great and we are looking forward to the coming week. 

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

Elder Perry
Weston South
Weston Ward
Canada Toronto Mission