P-Day #77 - Baptism Date Set, Barn Burnt Down and It's Still Cold....

This week has been a little different…

We have been helping a member family clean up after their barn burned down. They think a chipmunk got into the electrical panel and chewed it up. We have been making a lot of progress and have been able to help build temporary holdings for the remaining animals. They lost over 100 sheep and 20 chickens. Our faith has been strengthened as we watched this family look at the ruins and say it’s going to be OK. I guess they will just have to build another barn and raise some more sheep. They didn't focus on what was destroyed but rather they looked to the future. It’s been an honor to help and serve them through this trial. When we have a deep understanding of the Gospel and when we have a deep understanding of spiritual knowledge, we are able to look beyond the physical aspect of life and realize that these things are temporary.

We also have been meeting with our investigator and we set him with a baptismal date. He is what we call a golden investigator. It’s awesome to teach someone who was pretty much a member for their life and then they are practically jumping in to the font to be baptized.  He was the one that suggested the baptism day and our lesson with him started out with "So what are you doing on February the 10th?" We said nothing as of right now and then he asked if he could have his baptism on that day. We were hoping for February 3rd and as we talked a little more circumstances came up for him that he had to move it to the Third. All we could do was look up to the sky and think our Heavenly Father loves us, as he always has. 

We also have been receiving a lot of referrals this week and we are looking forward to contacting them this week.

Love You Mom and Dad and Remember...

I Pray for you every night & day!

Elder Perry

Owen Sound Ward

Barrie Stake

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day # 76 - It's COLD! Teaching Opportunities, and Sliding on the Ice & Snow....

Elder Perry, Selfie!

This week has been a slow week for us. In both terms of driving and in teaching.

Most of our investigators were sick this week due to a bad flu virus going around. We have a investigator that is ready for baptism but due to the flu we had to change the date.  Pray that he gets well and we can reschedule soon.  We have had bad road conditions getting from appointment to appointment. We’ve had lots of snow which melts some and refreezes…. more on the ice thing later. We have been able to get in contact with some potential investigators however, they didn't want to hear our message, so we have been trying to talk to everyone we see and stay warm at the same time. That’s not easy when it’s minus -20 Celsius.

Elder Perry, Sauble Beach
Owen Sound, Ontario

We did have the opportunity to visit a referral this week who was in the hospital. We had a very nice conversation. But he wasn't in a state where we could teach him much. He did seem to like the company though.

We slowly but surely have been meeting most of the Owen Sound Ward and we have been working on building a good relationship with them. We were able to help one of them move a freezer and help with their animals. 

We have been teaching a recent convert and answering questions that she has had, while shoveling her walk way, when we go visit. She has been going through The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and had questions about family history. We were able to explain that Elijah had come and that those keys needed for family history have been brought back to the earth once again. She was in awe and we feel like we could use one of President Monson's favorite sayings while driving back to Owen Sound, "We think we did some good today!"

Looks Cold, Ea'?

We were also able to watch the funeral of President Monson and learn from his life about dedicated service. Helping others is worth any sacrifice and taking the time to help and talk to others in the midst of a busy schedule can have long lasting effects. 

I was driving 25 MPH (Yes, it really was 25mph Mom -TIWI is my witness) and slid on some black ice out of know where and the car got put in the ditch. The car was perfectly fine though. We were truly blessed and Heavenly Father really does take care of his missionaries.  We tried to dig around it, but that car wasn't coming out without help. A family was just coming home for the day and they asked if we needed any help. They offered to call CAA (AAA for Canada) for us and have them pull us out of the ditch. We accepted and then they asked for our help in pushing their car that got stuck in their drive way up to their house. 

Pretty?...Pretty Slick!!!

We were able to share some basic things we believe with the family and got to leave a card with them. The CAA guy came and pulled the car out and we were able to teach him about families while he was pulling our car out he also took a pass along card. We were able to then continue on our journey and our car was perfectly fine. The Lord really loves us and we made the most out of our situation. We were thankful we got to teach.  

I can’t believe I’m starting to talk about coming home and going to BYU-I. My sister is helping me with the enrollment and housing while my parents are taking care of the financial aide called FASFA. My companion, Elder Stringham, took a semester at BYU-I before his mission, so I’ve also been picking his brain. Time is sure going by quick, What am I gonna' do now??  Missionary Work of Course...Still have time to WORK !!

Elder Perry
Owen Sound, Ontario
Barrie Stake
Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #75 - Locked Out of Our Apartment, -30 Degrees Fahrenheit and a Baptism Commitment...

Elder Perry and Elder Stringham
Owen Sound Ward, Barrie Stake

This week has been one of getting to know the members of the ward. We have met with several families.

We were able to meet with one of our investigators here this week. Elder Stringham taught really well in the lesson and the Spirit was there. We thought it went great  We taught him the Restoration and committed him to baptism. He said yes, and we will be setting him with a baptismal date this week. We are pretty excited about that.

We also got locked out of our apartment because the key broke in the lock due to how cold it was with the wind chill. We waited for a couple of hours for word of getting a spare key from the landlord, but we found out that the earliest she could open our apartment for us was the next day. So, we stayed in the chapel for the night. We were able to get a spare key from the landlord and were able to get some spares made so that it wouldn't happen again. It was a good experience and we could only think to ourselves and count our blessings, only in the mission field would we be blessed to have a warm, dry place to go and no safer place than the chapel, the Lords building.

It's -30 degrees out there ....It's COLD!

I was also able to have my first district meeting of the transfer. We talked about Elder Pearson's teachings on having a vision, expanding the knowledge, understanding the message, gaining the skills and having the urgency to share the message with others.  I think it went very well, and we were able to get some input on what the district feels like they need to learn about. We will be able to teach them the things they are interested in within the coming weeks.

In Fast and Testimony Meeting, we also heard from a member in the middle of her testimony that she has a referral for us. That was cool! 

We’re thankful for the members here in the Owen Sound Ward. They keep us fed and are very good to us. It’s nice to know we can count on the members, if needed.

We had a busy morning. We went shopping, organized the cupboards, went to an army surplus store and found a knife for dirt cheap, went to Wendy’s and had some food and now we are emailing.

Great Week!

Remember, I Pray for you Every Night & Day!

Elder Perry

Owen Sound Ward

Barrie Stake

Canada Toronto Mission  

P-Day # 74 - Transferred to Owen Sound, Getting Sick and Saying Goodbye...

Elder Perry, Elder DeVries and an Investigator
in Napanee, Ontario, Canada

This week we were making the final preparations to the Napanee Branch and making a plan to help push the Kingston District into a Stake. We came up with the plan that once the District gave us measurable goals to achieve, we would make plans to achieve those goals and would be working to maintain what we have gained. It’s just that we were waiting for the Branch goals this week so, that we could start the moving forward. Meanwhile we are working with our investigators. 

Elder Perry & Another Investigator...

I got sick this week. I like the American health care system better! Since it was New Years and no clinics or urgent cares were open, we waited in the E.R. for 8 hours… for a 5 min visit and got charged $880 dollars. Like Kurt Russell said in the movie Big Trouble, Little China… “What I say to a guy on a dark and stormy night…the check is in the mail!” 

Elder Perry and A Member Saying Goodbye...

We were also able to meet with our investigator this week. She has been busy with the holidays but is still excited to meet with the missionaries in Napanee this week.

A Very "Cold" Kingston Zone...

Then “SURPRISE!” just when the records are cleaned up and we have found all the members, I was transferred to The Barrie Stake, Owen Sound Ward. 

I have been able to meet some of the people here from the  new ward and they are super nice.  I think I will like it here and I will be able to help the ward a lot. I am also excited to help my district this transfer and help them grow too.

I am still a District Leader and I have a couple of new Sisters in my District. I also have Elder Bertagnolli who I served with in Hamilton and another Elder that is really cool. I am pretty excited about the transfer. I am with Elder Stringham as my companion and he is really cool. I think we will get along great.  

Kingston District Meeting

I was sad to leave Napanee. The members were sad too. We spent the last day on Monday packing because we had to leave Monday night and go to Toronto. I do know that there is a plan though, because when I was transferred, we stayed at another missionary’s apartment. While I was there, I got to talk to a missionary that was having a hard time adjusting to missionary life. He was from France and he was trying to learn English. We started talking in French and I was able to give him some advice about how to adjust better. He seemed to like it. He was a recent convert for only two years who then decided to go serve a mission. I think it helped him adjust a little better and I think it was nice for him to hear his own language again.

I think everyone is settling in right now so I will be calling them within the next couple days. I have to prepare a district meeting for Saturday so that should be fun. I am the District Leader for my area and two other areas.

The apartment is nice. I am finding out that the apartments are nice, it’s just missionaries that aren't on top of keeping them nice is the problem. So we will be cleaning this week. We have food in our cupboards and we had a dinner appointment last night, and pretty much one for every day this week. 

Bunny Punch - Tactical Pen

Thanks to my Uncle Troy for sending me a Bunny Punch - Tactical Pen for Christmas. It’s pretty cool. Made of solid steel and capable of breaking windows and bones. Just what a missionary needs to help set baptismal dates. Awesome! 

While on my transfer, I took a couple of pictures of the Temple here in Toronto. It’s very pretty at night, ea’?

Special shout out to Elder Erik DeVries. I'm gonna miss him and his funny sense of humor. I hope to work with him again. And thanks to his Mom for the Pajama Bottoms, Canadian Style! 

It's been a busy week. 

Remember I Love You & Pray For You Every Night & Day.

Elder Perry

Owen Sound Ward

Barrie Stake

Canada Toronto Mission

P-Day #73 - Live Nativity, SKYPE'ing Home for Christmas and Lots of Snow...

Live Nativity Helpers and Actors

This week has been a successful week for us.

We have been busy with helping put on a Live Nativity Pageant in Kingston. It was a fun experience being able to play an Inn Keeper and helping play a Stable Hand. We had a lot of people come and everyone was very thankful that we had helped to put it on. We also spent a lot of time helping keep the grounds cleared due to the massive amount of snow that had been dropped .We got an extra exercise workout with moving all the snow off the outdoor stage and as we did a guy came and helped moved all the snow we had shoveled out of the way where the people would stand. He only came over after we started singing Christmas Hymns and Christmas songs in the middle of the snowy weather. I thought it was fantastic. 

Elder Perry Thinking "Who Talked Me Into This???"

Funny story…We also had to fight the donkey at one point during the show. People thought that it was one of the funniest things that they had ever seen. You had Joseph, the Stable Hand and a Shepard…all pulling and pushing a donkey out of the stable. The donkey sliding side ways across the ice and snow,  finally gave in though and we didn't have any problems for the rest of the night with him. The fun of being a Inn Keeper and Missionary .

Kingston District Zone Conference

We had our Zone Conference which was really good with learning from the past and applying what we learn to the future.

Elder DeVries Photobombing My Skype Time Home!

On Monday, Christmas Day and SKYPE Day, I was supposed to Skype with Mom, Dad and Megan at 1PM their time. Unfortunately, there was a Missionary Momma, Sister Adamson (here) who was having trouble Face-Timing her Missionary in Mexico. Since she and her Missionary were on a later time zone, I gave my time to her and let my family know I could Skype 3 hours later. I proceeded to download Skype onto her computer, got it setup and got her on just in time.

Parents Note: Here is a Message Sister Adamson  randomly sent us…

“He really helped me today. My daughter's grandfather (ex-husband's stepfather) has been really sick but we were able to bring him from the hospital for the day, so it was a really emotional Christmas. When we started having technical difficulties with our connection he really helped calm me down. Thanks for raising such a good Young Man.!”

Thanks Sister DeVries for the PJ's!

Sister DeVries, my companion’s Mom, made us Pajama bottoms for Christmas. They are the BOMB! Canada pajama bottoms. My parents sent Elder DeVries and me t-shirts that have all the Marvel Super heroes gathered around with Jesus in the middle saying “And That’s How I Saved the World!” Great Presents!

Elder Perry, All Smiles...

I think I’m getting sick from all the cold weather. I feel terrible and my ears are starting to hurt. I’ve been just taking some Buckley's (motor oil tasting) cough syrup, but maybe I’ll call the medical officer of our Mission and have him refer me to the clinic. It might be our Branches fault. With the amount of sugar we have been having. The branch is trying to get rid of us by putting us in a diabetic coma. It’s their way of “loving us up”!  They take really good care of the missionaries here and they really appreciate what we do for the branch. They gave us 3 FULL baskets of food and we are stocked for a month for Christmas.  We have been really blessed.

We Got Some Snow Guess who gets to shovel?

Love You and remember I Pray for You every night & day!

Elder Perry

Napanee, Ontario Kingston District
Canada Toronto Mission