Bam. 2.16.15

Hola.
Zone conference! It's come around again! My very last one. We got up early and worked on our car. It is beautiful! We then hurried and got ready and left and had to get gas and hurried on our way. The gps said it was half an hour away. Lies. An hour. So we rolled up late, but we weren't the last ones. Ha!  

It was a great conference! I learned a lot. We talked so much about the atonement. You never realize how much it is working in your life until you take a step back and be grateful. It's amazing. It really is! I bore my testimony at the end and just blubbered through the whole thing. I was just a mess today.

The assistants were roll playing using the new survey approach and elder cordon was the missionary. It was a great role play, kind of funny because you can't really help it with those two, and then he asked elder Jorgensen if prayer helped him and elder Jorgensen said it did when his wife died 3 years ago. The whole atmosphere changed and the spirit was so strong that I just sat there, crying, in the middle of a role play. Such a penetrating power, the spirit is. I really felt it pierce the very depth of my soul, as so beautifully described in the Book of Mormon.

 It was wonderful. I'm so sad to think that this was my last one, but it was great to go out with such a bang. We also won the 100 extra miles!! Wahoo!! When I went to retrieve them elder winter said, "now. I want you to think about the car you and sister Elliott handed in when we shut down your area... (I profusely apologized for the oatmeal) when I saw that this was your car, I checked it and I checked it again. Good job, you earned it." Hahahahaha YES YES YES. 

This week we saw Shelly and Theresa. What a funny bunch of people! Shelly played is a few of her songs and we did our ballet moves to them. It was great! Then we had a really spiritual lesson from ether 6. The spirit was very strong, and then they invited us girls over for dinner on Sunday! How exciting!! 

One night this week when we got home I cut myself a slice of banana bread and then went to the bathroom. Whilst I was gone sister malm ate the good crusty piece of my bread!! What! Who does that?! I was funny mad, but forgave her. 

Ee were at the Hendricks building this week and bishop Ellis showed up and he was coming to marry some people... Odd. So we went and sat in with them. We witnessed a wedding! How exciting! They are from Cambodia and just needed to be legally married in the states. Not everyone can say that they've done this. How strange.

Sela's Baptism

Today we went to st Augustine and it was great. 

Lots of fun

Hope you have a good week!

Love,

Sister Perkes 

Sent from my iPad

Blurrr. 2.09.15

What an intensely short week. 

We went to the library this week and there was this guy there who was breathing extremely loud and Sister Malm whispered to me,"90% sure he's deaf." We got up to leave and he looked at us, so she signed some things and turns out he was. They had a really nice chat and she sent him to LDS.org/asl. What a neat site! How amazing to have such a great companion this has so many talents. 

This week we also played bean boozled that my sweet mother sent for some holiday, but no body wanted to play with me. I can see why! They were all absolutely disgusting. Words cannot even begin to describe. YUCKERS. Sister Malm got booger, puke, and skunk spray. I got stinky feet, skunk spray, and grass clippings. Euuww. 

(Editor's note - wish I could figure out how to add the video.  It WAS disgusting!)

On Thursday we went and got sushi for dinner and when we were sitting down this girl flagged down Sister Malm and asked if we were Mormons. We said yes, and she came and sat with us. She looked awfully familiar and was wearing a BYU jacket. Hello. Turns out she used to be a member, but had her records removed. Her roommate was going to cut my roommate's, so that's where I know her from. About a year ago she was preparing to go on a mission and was engaged once upon a time, and then she just felt like she didn't believe in God anymore. Then she said that she was thinking about sister missionaries and how she could get in contact with us, and then we showed up! She has decided that she needs to spend more time with a better crowd. One that has her morals, so she decided she needs to start hanging out with more Mormons. WHAT A MIRACLE. 

We also saw another investigator this week. Her and her crazy friend Tim. We knocked and like she had on pretty much no clothing and they were sitting at the table drinking. I'm sorry, but a sports bra and shorts does not constitute as appropriate clothing for guests, especially male guests and missionaries. No thank you. They made us eat some of this "hot dish"/shepherds pie they had just made. Whilst eating this...concoction, Tim starts talking about how they didn't have any spices so he added some peach mango vodka..... We both stop mid chew and sort of get big eyes and Amanda shouted something about it cooking out. Well, I didn't taste peach mango nothin'. We attempted to have a lesson with them, but he was just plain crazy. He kept taking about the three days of doom (not biblically supported) and how Jesus had a rosary (also, not biblically supported). His evidence was he saw that Jesus had one in pictures. This was also after he had rambled on about the movie "The passion of Christ". My lanta. We finally escaped in one piece. 

What a miracle though! We are teaching her twin sister now! Yay!! 

This week we also helped with farm share and had a grand time! What a blessed group! Turns out members are all over there. Makes sense, y'all. 

We also met a man from Puerto Rico. his name was Lesdey. His parents were hippies. Now his name reallll slow. Hint hint. It's LSD. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. 

Hope y'all have a good week! Be grateful you're not named after drugs! Huzzah! 

Love,

Sister Perkes

Sister Malm's GREENIE dinner at the Caruso's a! Everything was green!!!!!

Me during companion study

Second Child 1.28.15

So. What you've all been waiting for. Sister Malm is my new companion. She is from Payson Utah and both of her parents are deaf, so her first language is ASL. How amazing is that??! She goes to SUU...well not right now, but you get the point. She was on the track and cross country team. How neato! She's great! 

This week we got to help a less active with her family history. She's back to 1680 on one line and it's getting really intense now. We tried our very best though, but it's kind of hard to find people that lived before the United States of America did. After that we left and tried to see some people. We stood outside of one person's house eating peanut m&ms and some gummy lifesavers, since we missed dinner time. Great first night in the field for sister Malm, but she took it like a champ. If my trainer hadn't fed me my first night, heads would have rolled.  

Then we went and had the most golden golden hour of my life! Obedience pays off! We found 3 new investigators and have appointments with all of the tomorrow! Wahooooo! Sister Malm was really nervous, but she did such a great job! I'm so excited for her. She's going to be a fabulous missionary. Even better than she already is. 

On Thursday we had a lot of lessons lined up, so we found a returned sister missionary to come out with us. What a gem of a lady. She is wonderful! We were driving to our investigators house and then I got lost and we ended up in ORANGE PARK. Orange. Park. Noooooooooo. Then we tried to get back and it was a hot mess and we weren't going to make it before we had to leave, so we just went to our next appointment. The gps took us all the way downtown and then all over hill and dale. Near and far. Hither AND thither. We finally made it there by the grace of God, and the our appointment wasn't home. But that's life. I'm pretty sure we went through 2 of the 3 stakes we cover. 

Sunday! It was a good Sunday. Not as many people hate me as I thought! Yay! We taught gospel principles and it was great. My area book also broke this week so we are kicking it old school with the paper planners. We tried so hard to fix it, but my iPad is very much brokey broke. Sad day. No hope.

Then we went and tried to see a bunch of people and finally someone was home. I think he was yelling at his mom in Tagalog asking who let us in... I love it when people hate us. It's the best! Then we went to dinner at the Caruso's. They are one of the married couples sent as Angels from above to mediate the YSA branch. I have not confused that much food in a long time. They just kept feeding us, and feeding us. Everything I learned on Friday went out the window. 

 Apparently they know Katy dill and. I. Died. They thought it was too funny that I couldn't talk to her when we went to their ward. One day I'll muster up enough courage. One day. 

Well, hope y'all have a good week!

Love,

Sister Perkes 

#Share the Book (Facebook)

2015 1.5.15

Happy 2015 everyone!!

It's sure crazy how time has flown. I don't know how it has happened, but I have loved every day of it. Maybe not every minute, but definitely every day. Being a missionary is really, really hard, but oh boy, it is really, really worth it.

I wouldn't trade these last 14 months for anything. I LOVE being a missionary. It makes me happy. Truly happy. :)

This week I had the longest day EVER. I have never done so much physical activity in one day before in my whole entire life. I got up today and ran, y'all. Ran. Then we rode our bikes all over hill and dale riding like crazy pants.... It's real hard to see in the dark. Luckily we had a dinner appointment that an investigator was taking us to. We almost died like 12,000 times but God's protection is real. 

This YSA is nice! It's quite different than the Gainesville YSA, but I think that I'm going to like it here. Everyone is very nice. 

We snuck out of the last hour and went to mandarin 2nd ward to recruit some little YSAs who have strayed to the family ward. IT WAS LIKE COMING HOME. Oh my goodness. You can take me out of mandarin 2nd, but you can't take mandarin 2nd out of me!! We sat next to the Chytrauses and had the most grand of times. Sister Chytraus is now our inside lady who is scoping out the YSA for us. Oh, how my soul just loves her. She's too great. 

Did I mention I have my own bathroom and closet? Life is nice. 

Hope you have a good week and you set lots of good resolutions! I actually set them this year, and I'm going to keep them....so far I've only had to catch up on one...yay! 

Love,

Sister Perkes 

Happy Birthday to me - 21!

The birthday cake Sarahjane made for me.

Sister Yeakley left the keys in the car all during district meeting.
Luckily it was unlocked.

Us and the infamous sister Hutchinson

                                Sometimes cards magically stick to doors. It's great.

Merry Birthday 12.29.14

So yall I got transferred this very day. I'm now back in YSA, but in Mandarin this time! It's crazy. Hopefully I will just stay here for the rest of my mission. I'm getting tired of packing up all my junk. It's awful hard when you're a hoarder and you just had Christmas and a birthday. My new companion is Sister Yeakley and she is from Idaho, too! She's great :) 

Best Christmas Eve ever! So much better that four dinners last year! It was a magical day! So we got up and went on a walk for exercise. It. Was. Hot. What the heck, Florida? We went caroling and then we went to the Krups. We went caroling with all the missionaries all around their big fancy pants neighborhood and softened lots of hearts. We just love that lovely family. The Krupczynskis even gave us our present. IT WAS A CROCKPOT. how STINKIN funny!! They are too much. How I love them. 

On Christmas Day we went to breakfast at president Craig's house. It was magical!! We sang songs and ate food and just had a delightful time. Except for sour puss. She was quite the sour puss and scuzzied everyone the whole time. Then the Winters dropped us off at home and we went to the Krups to get the stuff that I left there. Somehow we got roped into watching some of their home videos. We watched Zoyas baby shower and big Felix play softball. It was quite the spectacle. 

Then we went to a less actives Stokes house. She is so interesting. She believes in all these restored truths, but doesn't believe in Joseph smith. She said "He had one too many wacky tabacky  leaves in the woods." 

The we had dinner at the Canos and Skyped home! It was so wonderful! So great to see everyone! 

This week there was a wedding reception that we helped out with. It was actually Megan Fowler's best friend marrying my branch mission leader in Gainesville, who is also Megan's cousin. WHAT. I steamed 11 stinkin table cloths. If I ever see a steam again I will cry. But it did create some wonderful experiences. I set off the fire alarm. I was steaming in the hall right under the smoke detector and it went off. No one knew how to shut it off except for Brother Bisel. He finally helped and we got it all fixed. It was embarrassing, but no one died. 

I had a wonderful birthday! The Canos took me out for lunch and got me the cutest little present. They somehow found a magnet that says my favorite color is glitter. Magic! Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, and love! Sarahjane made me a cake and people were singing to me left and right. It was a beautiful day :)

Have a great week! Love yall! 

Love,

Sister Perkes 

Merry Chrismahaunakwanzaka 12.22.14

The weather was so nice this week. It was disgusting. Every day we would walk out someone would say, "Welcome to Florida." It's out of control. December could at least have a cloud. Just one. That's all I'm asking for. Is it really too much? 

We had a great week though! It was full of lots of fun things. On Monday we went to Hannah/the commanders house and had family home evening with Sarahjane. We were running late and by the time we got there Sarahjane was already in there having a good time. We split up into groups and each talked about a commandment. Sarahjane and Sophia did word of wisdom, we did chastity, and Hannah and John did keep the Sabbath day holy. It was really fun and lots of laughs. We sang a song about chastity and it was a beautiful performance, if I do say so myself. 

This week we had THE MISSION CHRISTMAS PARTY. It deserves all capitals. It was so nice to see all of the people that I love so much. A.k.a Sister Blatter. The skits were pretty funny. Ours went pretty well, expect for when elder Perez forgot his line. It's okay though. I forgive him. We did a parody of Elf the movie and somehow I ended up writing the script. Well, I know how. But the skit was really funny and turned out very nicely.  We had the musical program and it was amazing. So many talented people in our mission! The spirit was so strong in the room. It was a beautiful feeling. There is no other way to describe it. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are so very real. 

This week sister Elliott gave a training in district meeting on our purpose as missionaries and she challenged us to each think about our own personal purpose. I think I'm starting to understand love more. I think that Heavenly Father had me come on a mission so that I could understand love. I could know what it looks like, what it feels like, and how to truly love other people. Its a lesson I couldn't learn anywhere else.

The very best part of this week was on Friday. Hannah came and got us and we went with Sarahjane and went to the hospital to see Hannah's friend Levi Gold. He's got Down's syndrome and they just found out he has cancer. He is, literally the sweetest person ever. The spirit is so strong in his room and so many people were there to love him and sit with him. 

Well merry Christmas everyone! I hope that y'all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the reason for the season! Christ truly is our Savior, Redeemer, and older brother. Heavenly Father sent a little baby to save us all and how marvelous it is to know that. I love every day of my mission and the fact that I get to share it with the people here in Florida! 

Love,

Sister Perkes 

What a Ward 12.15.14

This week was weird. Just plain weird. My creative juices are at an all time low. I had to make up two skits within the last two days and my brain is on overload. But I'll make it. I've got God on my side. 

Not much has happened since last Tuesday. We have been going to the hospital a lot. Not for us, but for ward members. Job hazards for those serving in a "newly wed or nearly dead" Ward. We went to see one lady and when we walked in and she was talking to the doctor about how she hasn't had any....um,movement... in a week. They initially lost her and couldn't find her. Turns out she was in the bathroom for 2 HOURS. Hendricks gets weirder every day. 

We also went to the ER to see a different lady. She apparently fainted whilst getting a perm. Who wouldn't? They are so smelly. So we got there and it was really nice...until she had an x ray and had to take off her bra. So there was this old lady getting naked while we were in there. It was less traumatizing than I anticipated. Hhhaaaahahhaha what is my life? 

We had the ward Christmas party this weekend. It was beautiful. We did a skit called the Shaun plump fairies and rocked it. Basically you stuff yourself full of things and dance around to the sugar plum fairy. Luckily there are quite a few ballerinas in the ward. We went to one house and there was a fountain of toole erupting from their living room. The worst part was that they had more. The skit went really well considering we had never heard the music we danced to or had a practice that lasted longer than 5 minutes. 

Caden also got baptized yesterday! He's a little boy that we've been teaching. His mom is a member and we were able to work with him and help him learn more. He's such a sweet soul! 

What a good week! Hope you have a great one too!

Love,

Sister Perkes