(sorry, I missed posting this) Just in case I wasn't enough of a freak already, let's add a TIARA!! 11.26.13

Well. This week I got called to be trainer. That's right. A trainer. After 6 WEEKS. I don't know what's going on.... anyways. Awko. My poor new missionary probably won't turn out right, but that's the risk they're taking I guess. 

Sister Eddington is going to Julington Creek. That's not in my zone and I'm about to cry. She is SO. FAR. AWAY. BUT if things go south I can still walk there. It could take me hours, but it would be worth it. 

Moving on. This week was rather dull in comparison to the last few ones... I'm not actually entirely sure what I did this week.... I'm sure I can come up with something.

So. This week. I spent all week just having a fit about training. I'm just dying over here. Don't worry. On Thursday we had a train the trainers meeting. That was super fun. I was the only person who came from my group that is moving companions, let alone training.

We taught Branson again. HE'S STILL DOESN'T HAVE A BAPTISM DATE. I'm gonna rage.But he thought he had a blood clot, but in fact it was just a bruise. Long story. No fun. 

Oh! On Thursday we went to the neurologist. That was an adventure and a half! So fun.   

I really can't think of anything. I'm sorry...

WAAHHHH. TRAINING. DYING. BLEGH.

Love,

Sister Perkes

Mappy Birthmas To Me! 12.30.13

This week was wondiferous! Much better than the last two.. and quite possibly the last three put together! 

IT WAS CHRISTMAS. CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!!! But it really didn't feel like Christmas. That's okay though because it is like Christmas every day here. 

So Christmas eve was a blast and a half. We had 3 dinner appointments right in a row. Each one was wonderful and delicious. I shall now elaborate upon them.

Our first one was with the most loving, giving woman I know. Her name is Tabatha, which makes it even better. Not everyone is blessed with such an awesome name. She had all of her family over and we had a fun time. 

The second house we went to was Sister Estoesta's house. I have learned one thing on my mission: I love me some Filipino food. It's divine. They had all of their family over, too. That was lots of fun.

The last house we stopped at was the Bennetts. We had BISON tacos. I don't get it. I live about an hour away from one trillion buffalo/bision for the bulk of my life and I never try any of the meat. NOW I move to the other side of the country, where there is not one to be seen, and partake of said meat. Funny and delicious. Anywho. The Bennetts are so lovely and are the funniest people ever. We had a grand time.

For Christmas Sister Jeromchek and I got up at 6 and opened our presents. It was strange. It didn't really feel like Christmas, but I enjoyed the presents! WOO HOO! 

For Christmas lunch we went to the Aniel's house and had a fantastic time with all the other missionaries in the area and the Aniel's family. LOVED IT.

For my birthday we a quite a day of adventures. My birthday dreams came true and we went to Panera for lunch. It was a little slice of the Celestial Kingdom. I had a bread bowl with my delicious soup. I was in hog heaven. Plus they have really yummy pastries and I love me a good dessert make up of bread. A ward member named Sister Hairel came to lunch with us (I don't know if I've said anything about Sister Hairel yet, but she is the neatest lady. She LOVES the civil war and Phantom of the Opera. Yes, please to both. She is just magical. Harry Potter is her ringtone. Needless to say she is my kind of person).

Post-Panera we went to our epic baptism. It was the mother load. We had FOUR baptisms. FOUR. None of them were mine, but I loved going and it was the best birthday present ever. It was so beautiful. Branson came and he really enjoyed it. He also came to church on Sunday. Since it was my birthday we sang "In Our Lovely Deseret", but no one knew how to play it so I had to. But we still sang it! What. A. Gem.

This week was wonderful and skyping home was just what I needed to pep me up. Thanks for being so great!   

Thanks to all the people who sent me packages and letters! It really meant a lot to me and made Christmas more homey. 

I hope you all had a lovely week and I hope you have a great one!

love,

Sister Perkes

12.23.13

So this week was pretty good. It started with a trade off! I was with Sister Parmer again, but this time we worked in my area. We got a lot of work done and I learned a ton of new things. While we were at a less actives house we were sitting there talking and having a good time. We were seated in a swively chair and I decided that I wanted to cross my legs. Next thing I knew I was tipping over and I thought I was going to die. Luckily Sister Parmer saved me and up righted me. I thought I was all good. Then I moved. The next thing I knew I was on the floor. A screw had come loose and the top of the chair was only being held on by one screw. That one screw was not enough. I was on the floor in all my shame. Sister Parmer didn't even try to save me that time. The lady we were visiting looked appalled and terrified at the same time. I laughed for about 10 minutes (I'm laughing writing this too, as well as every time I think about it) and then I fixed her chair for her. All is well now.

This week we met these people and they were kind of crazy... alright, mostly crazy. This lady has had all these visions. WEIRD visions of emerald and ruby people with golden hair singing praises and other strange things. Very strange. Very strange. 

This week we also have made a new tradition. Every week after district meeting we go to Steak and Shake. Yes. It is as delicious as it sounds and most of the menu is in the name. It sells hamburgers and shakes. YES. PLEASE. It's delicious and they have this whole entire menu of 4 dollar things. It's plenty reason to live in the south. 

So that's pretty much everything exciting that happened to me this week. Oh! Yes. We did meet this lady named Betty. She used to be a go-go/cage dancer in like the 60's. She showed us the picture... Yerp. She also made us watch these YouTube videos of her nephew who is in this band. She also has a book of poems that she wrote. 

They were great, but also contraband. You can't deny reading someone's poems. You just can't. 

But that was my week. We have a great ward and they are really treating us well this Christmas. I'm so grateful that they are! I hope y'all are having a great week!

love,

Sister Perkes

Wonky Week 12.16.13

What a wonky week. It was so strange. Somehow we managed to do absolutely nothing in a whole entire week. It really flew by. Missionary time is trippy y'all. It really is. 

This week we had our giant Christmas party with all of the missionaries! EVERY SINGLE missionary in the mission was there. It was great. I got to see Sister Blatter, which pretty much made that day the best ever. I missed her so much. I also got to see Sister Eddington. That was just lovely. Our separation was rather abrupt so it was nice to actually get to say a real see you later. 

Here's a bit of interesting for ya. On the way to said Christmas party we got rear ended! How exciting is that! I stopped at a yellow light and here in Florida that is basically synonymous with green, as is red. Do not even get me started on Florida drivers. They are no respecters of cross walks and that really gets my goat. THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON. Ugh. Anyways. I stopped and the guy behind me did not. There wasn't a lot of damage. Just some paint chips. Everyone was okay.

The very same day Sister Jeromchek and I packed our whole entire apartment into our car and moved, Beverly Hillbillies style to our new apartment. It is the nicest apartment I've ever been to. It's the lap of luxury. Top notch. Cream of the crop. I miss my old stinky apartment. There is no storage in this place, which is rather difficult when you have acquired a multitude of wonderful gems. 

This week was a good week for Branson. He came to our Book of Mormon study on Wednesday, our ward Christmas party on Saturday, AND church on Sunday. Things are moving right along! I think he's really loving getting to know the people in the ward. They are all really nice. 

This week was pretty difficult, but this week is looking to be much better! 

I hope you are all have great weeks! Make it a good one!

Love,

Sister Perkes 

Stuff Like This Only Happens to Me. I Swear. 12.9.13

I'm a firm believer in bad news first, so here it goes. I just lost all of my picture. Yes. Yes, I did. There. Bad news over.

This week was pretty fun! We started the week by going to visit over 25 less-active Sister's and invite them to our Relief Society activity that was on Thursday. We made contact with quite a few of them and one sister actually came! It was so worth it just for one sister to come from all of our efforts. We made them cookies, so they had better of loved it. I'm sure they did. :)

So I think I'll fast forward to the activity. We went caroling at an old people house and then we had a white elephant thingerdo. Sister Jeromchek and I made "Missionary in a bag"s. We stuck some cookies in with a Book of Mormon, a Restoration DVD, some pass-a-long cards, and all of the pamphlets. They were liked the slow kids when picking teams for kickball. Plumb picked last. Last I say. Last. People chose the tin foil wrapping paper before our beautiful paper bags. We were ashame-ed. BUT a less active young woman and an investigator got them, so I guess all is well. Righto? 

Before we went to said activity we had dinner with the Walters. They are probably the best people in the whole entire world. When I grow up I want to be as neat as they are. Kid you not. They have the cutest little girl named Elsie. Her nickname is Boots, which is just EVEN better. She did a performance for us while dinner was getting ready. The first song was about princesses, the second song was a jazzed up rendition of what does the fox say, and the last song was about cats... jungle cats I think! She even had some pretty nifty dance moves. Very modern and very interpretative. It was like unto modern break dancing if there is such a thing. Halfway through her mom tried to come to the concert but she said, "No boys at the concert!" and wouldn't let her in... makes total sense, right? Then her dad promptly shouted from the kitchen, "That's sexist! I'm going to come to your concert... NO!! I'm not going to come to your concert! I'm boycotting it!"

They are seriously the best. Plus they gave us ice cream in waffle cones. Any family with waffle cones is my kind of family.

The next day we were driving into our apartment for lunch and there was a big flock of Canadian geese right in the middle of the road. It is unbelievable how many fowls of the air live in Florida. It truly baffles me. So these geese. They were in the middle of the road and would not move. So I honked the horn, rolled down the windows, and turned up the music. David Osmond practically screamed at them, but they still didn't move. So obviously the only solution was for ME to shout at them. I stuck my head out the window and shouted at them. I did not bargain, nor did I prepare, for the noise that erupted from my mouth. It was terrifying. It sounded like I had ran over one of the geese, which is quite a possibility. They were rather plentiful. Apparently my noise meant, "FLY AWAY!" in goose, because then they flew away. Sister Jeromchek and I were pretty excited that they had left. Then we looked up. There was a little girl standing on a rock about 10 feet away. She was shocked, disgusted, appalled, and terrified. Apparently she had been watching these geese and heard my.. noise. Needless to say we lost it and just about died laughing.

I must also bring up another family in our ward. The Smiths. They are pure magic. Both of them served missions and are from Utah. YES, PLEASE. We love them. They have the cutest little girl. Plus they are really great member missionaries and will help with anything. They held a little Christmas party on Saturday and had 7 non-members come. It was wonderful! We sang Christmas songs and then they had a little spiritual message. At the end they sang "Families Can Be Together Forever." There was not a dry eye in the room. It was just.... MAGIC.

This week something odd happened to us... but it was really a tender mercy. So here's how the story starts. Saturday night we came in at 8 for dinner. The next day we went out to go to coordination meeting at 8:45. Some how the car next to us has managed to park their tire in our wheel well. WHAT? YES. So we had no idea what to do. Sister Stockett and Sister Donohue came and got us and drove us around, which was just fine because they were going all the same places as us! In return we fed them dinner. Later that night we put a note on the car saying that he needed to move it by 9 AM or we would have it towed. Well 9 AM rolled around he didn't move it. Wah wah wah. So we called a tow truck and the po-lice. Then the guy came down to go to work. Just as he got to his truck the police officer showed up (MIRACLE!!!!). The police officer was not happy with this crazy man and told us that we should have called the police earlier. The man told the police officer that he did this all the time and if it ever happened again to just come upstairs and tell him to move... yeaaahh... Then the man just got in his truck pulled out and pulled away. The police officer was not amused. Miraculously our car was not damaged at all!  We have learned to never park on that side again, needless to say! 

This week was a good one and pretty productive! We had a great time and can't wait for next week!

Have a blessed day!

Love,

Sister Perkes

Welp 12.2.13

So. As you have probably guessed, I got a new companion. Her name is Sister Jeromchek! Yes, a name that makes mine look simple! Bless-ed. She went to BYU and lived in Helaman Halls in the Taylor building. YEAH. We both looked familiar to each other. Funny how life works out! She is from Spokane, Washington and has a super neato ballet scholarship. She's pretty fun and we get along really well together!

This week was more eventful than last week, that's for sure! This week WE COMMITTED BRANSON TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!! (While everyone celebrates I would just like to take a moment to express how upset I am that commit does not have two "t"s. Such tomfoolery. Such nonsense. This is a severe injustice. I believe that since there are two "m"s there should be two "t"s. It's only fair.) It was great! He really felt the Spirit and understood what we were saying!.. But he didn't come to church on Sunday.. I think his Doctor (of the mental sort) is anti-ing him, which makes me really mad/sad/angry/frustrated/depressed/mad again. We went to go make sure he was coming to church on Sunday and we got another Branson special. It is a note that is written on the back of an envelope held up by a band-aid. It is so great. It makes the fact that he isn't coming to church hurt just a little less. This is the 3rd one we've gotten.

For Thanksgiving we were invited to TWO places. I don't know how I did it. I'm sure I gained at least 40 pounds. We were invited to Lois's for lunch with her family (for more information on Lois please see previous post). It was great and so much fun! She is just a wonderful lady! After that we did some work and then went to the Queens! They are seriously the cutest family ever. They have this little boy named Ezra and his hair is just so awesome. There is no other word. It.. I just want it. But it was like a gourmet meal! Everything was beyond delicious. Plus they had razzleberry pie at the end. I am all about that pie.

Now I must tell you of a terrible mistake I made... well Sister Eddington started it. So we have this less active Sister named Sister Barnett that we see and her granddaughter is about to have (well just had) a baby. Sister Eddington thought she would be here for at least one more transfer so she volunteered to finish this blanket that Sister Barnett started crocheting. It looked to difficult for my companion so she started her own. About 10 minutes later we call the telling us that Sister Eddington would, in fact, NOT be staying. But she kept with the blasted blanked.. She crocheted like a mad woman and go pretty far, but now I'm left finishing it. I don't really know what I'm doing. I hope this kid likes it and drags it around like he's the kid on peanuts. As of right now it's about the size of a dishtowel.. just kidding.. it's bigger. It would be a good blanket for a large potato.

Training is hard. Like, really hard. I didn't realize how much I relied on Sister Eddington. She is amazing! I'm doing much better now than I was earlier this week though! I have come to realize that my new companion is not a Tomagatchi pet. I can't kill her. I think that's what I was afraid of. But I think we are doing pretty well considering the circumstances. I have learned that we can really do anything as long as we rely on the Lord. I have really felt the Spirit guide us this week has we have been doing work. We went to visit this less active Sister who opened the door and said, "who told you I was back?". Apparently her mother had recently died so she had just spend 3 months in Idaho and gotten back yesterday. She really needed us. If you don't think that is being led by the Spirit wait until you hear this one.

This lady was a lady who we have been trying to meet since the second day Sister Eddington and I got here. We have left cards, sticky notes, a family history pamphlet, and even wrote her a letter to try and reach her. Sister Jeromcheck and I were trying to visit a potential investigator, but he wasn't home so we had no idea what to do when I got the idea to go visit Maria. So we got in the car, went to her apartment complex, debated if we had gone in the right entrance for a while, and then decided if we hadn't we would walk. When we got out of the car we saw a pair of crutches sticking out of a gold car. Her neighbor (yes, we talked to her neighbor too) had told us that she has a gold car. I was guessing it was Maria, but even if it wasn't, this lady needed some help. We asked her if we could help her and she stuck her head out and said yes. Apparently the lady had fallen down the rickety stairs from her second floor apartment (which scare me every time I go down them) and she had landed on her shoulder/neck. She had been injured for about 3 months and she has been really struggling. We helped her carry her very heavy purse and some cakes up the stairs. She was so grateful! We gave her our phone number and she promised that she would call us when she needs help. Oh yeah, it was in fact Maria.

Boom. Those are the highlights of my week. I'm just hanging out here in Florida. You know, living the missionary life. Just working for daaays.

Hope everyone has a blessed week! I know I will!

love,

Sister Perkes

Gator Sighting 11.18.13

So I'm going to start this week off with the best news of all. We had a gator sighting. THERE WAS AN INVESTIGATOR AT CHURCH. Oh my goodness it was like Christmas. No, it was BETTER than Christmas. It was like 12,000 Christmases put together AND a Happy New Year. Branson finally came to Church. It was crazy. Mostly because 2 nights ago we took him on an impromptu church tour with one of the senior couples in our mission. He really connected with them, so that's why I think he came.

This week we had trade offs so I got to spend some time with the cutest Sister ever. Her name is Sister Parmer and she is serving in Hendricks, which is the section above me. We had a grand ol' time! Within the first 10 minutes of being on a trade off we went to this family's house to teach a lesson to an 11 year old girl, who is probably the prettiest 11 year old I've ever seen. Plus her name is Olivia. Can't beat that. The family was so cute! They have a 7 year old and a 9 year old. The nine year old had a Percy Jackson shirt on and I made the mistake of asking him if he liked the books. He talked to me for a long time about it and the next thing I know he is leaning towards me with his arms spread out. I, being a Sister Missionary, at first had no idea what was happening. What was this? Was this some weird Floridan tradition? Was this a sign that he was accepting me into his band of friends that loosely resembles a gang? No. He. Was. Hugging. Me. RED FLAG, YO. I quickly dodged the hug and told him he couldn't hug me, but we could high five. He was rather upset, but I think my skills as a high fiver quickly made up for that.

Other than that we had a lovely time on trade offs. I had my first Florida orange!.... It tasted like an Orange... Yup.

On P-Day we also got to go to the mall. THEY HAVE A FLORIDA GATORS HALF ZIP AT THE VICTORIA'S SECRET THERE. (I know. What kind of self-respecting, church respecting, obedient missionary goes into Vicky's? Well I did. For about 2 seconds. We made sure that none of the gross stuff was where we were. I promise.) But alas, said halfzip was kind of expensive and I am poor. Big tears will I cry. Alligator tears, if you will. I also got an adorable green bag just for proselyting. It's beautiful and lovely. Plus it's from FRANCESCA'S. I love that store. My goodness.

I ate some collard greens this week and I about died. They tasted like moldy farts. Never again. They are currently stinking up our fridge. Grody. Jody.

Speaking of things in our apartment... THERE WUD A LIZARD IN OUR APARTMENT. A REAL LIVE LIZARD. I ABOUT DIED. I CAN'T STOP TYPING IN CAPS. TOO MUCH.. TOO MUCH. TOO MUCH!!!! So. Sister Eddington is also afraid of lizards so it was quite a treat. We couldn't figure out how to get it out, but thankfully it was right by the door. So we thought it was dead for about a day. Sister Eddington even took a picture of it.. with flash. No movement. Then it moved when we weren't looking and we almost passed out. So we had to get it outside. So I Saran-Wraped the broom for sanitary purposes and we built a barricade using the coffee table. Sister Eddington stood on a chair and I cowered behind the barricade. I opened the door and Sister Eddington pushed it out. We are lizard free now, just in case you were wondering. 

On the note of critters, I saw my first cockroach. It was wretched and I hated it. The end. 

We had another magical zone conference this week. Being a missionary is so much fun and I learn so much. It was wonderful and the food was yummy. Missionaries eat really well here. 

This week we were asked to do a surprise performance at the Senior Conference. It was great. We didn't have to write it, but we did get to make up an awesome dance and do it with the other missionaries in our ward. They loved it and it was the funniest thing ever. It's on Facebook... I wish everyone could see it.

As Sister Missionaries this week we got to teach Young Women's. It was so nice to be back! Saying the theme was like riding a bike... well riding a bike for normal people. I hate bikes and I'm probably not any good anymore...WELL. What I mean is that it was easy to do. We had a great time. 

Last night was probably the most amazing night ever. There was a fireside of recent converts in our ward sharing their conversion stories. It was incredible. Each person had such a unique situation and it was incredible to see how they were led to the church by just some simple seeds that had been planted. It was such an amazing spiritual experience. I'm so grateful for their strength and courage to share. I look up to all 4 of them. 

So this week was pretty dandy and I had a grand ol' time. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love y'all and miss you tons!!

Love, 

Sister Perkes

P.S. Y'all can add Sister Eddington on Facebook if you so feel like it. Her name is Sister-Kiana Eddington. 

P.P.S. Today is Elder Feliz's real birthday. I said/ did nothing. 

Slow Week 11.11.13

This email is going to be pretty short. Y'all can thank me later when you're eyes don't hurt. 

This week really doesn't have anything super exciting. Except for two things... well I guess it's full of really exciting things, but I shall only majorly expound upon two. 

The first was on Monday. It involved a District Leader and a birthday. Let it begin.

SO. We were on the Facebook and we were looking at birthdays and it said that our District Leader's birthday was on Monday. We are the only Sisters that live in the same apartment complex as him so we thought that it would be sway nice if we did something sway nice for him. So Elder Feliz (dats him) called on Monday for our key indicators thingy bob and we sang him happy birthday before he even got a word out. When we finished he said that he needed a moment. We were pretty proud of ourselves because our touching serenade had caused him to be overcome with emotion (now we know that he was, in fact, laughing so hard that he just plain old couldn't talk). Later in the day we thought we would be even more awesome and sticky note his door with "Happy Birthday". Well it didn't work out so well since Sister Eddington forgot the "i"... SO. We rearranged it so the "i" was the peephole... you gotta work with what chu got, ya know? Well. Then we went back onto Facebook and we decided to go onto Elder Feliz's wall to see all of the happy birthday posts... there were none. Not one. It was like an empty ghost town at sunset. NOT A BIRTHDAY WISH TO BE HAD. A feeling of pure terror and shame overcame us. Elder Feliz's birthday was actually in two weeks... There was no coming back from what we did. It was one doodle that in no way could have been undid. Now we were stuck. We were stuck to wallow in our embarrassment. We had district meeting the next day and we would have to see Elder Feliz. We tried to get some help from Sister Stockett and Sister Smedley, but all they did was laugh at us. It was very uplifting. We ended up texting him and telling him that we thought he was so fantastic that he deserved TWO birthdays. It was a shameful attempt at saving our dignity. Mission. Failed. BUT we did learn the next day that they got dinner because people thought it was someone's birthday, so honestly they should thank us. YOU'RE WELCOME *girl from Awkward. voice*

Our apartment was being "de-smoked" (I put that in quotes because it really didn't do anything. Hopefully we will be moving soon) so we stayed with Sister Stockett and Sister Smedley. We had a great time and it was really really fun! They are both bonkers and I love them for it. PLUS Sister Stockett makes really yummy blueberry pancakes. They were delightful.

On Friday we got to go this assisted living facility and have lunch with a less active member that lives there. Here name is Lois! So we went and had lunch with Lois!... which sounds like one of those overly cheesy, but oddly inspiring movies. Well. It was the most high class lunch I've ever been to. It was a 3 course dining experience! As we were eating there I constantly asked myself why I didn't live there. Sometimes life is so unfair. Seriously. But it was fantastic. 

The lady Marsha from last week dropped us. It was so sad. She really needed what we have. It was rough, but I know one day that seed will grow into something magnificent.

I love you, miss you, and hope you're having a great week! Thanks for the emails! I LOVE them and look forward to them! 

Love,

Sister Perkes

a month. a MONTH?? 11.4.13

So this week marks the one month mark that I left the world of pop culture and friends. If you want to be super technical it will be a month in two weeks that I've been in the field. But we're going to ignore that. A MONTH!!! HOORAY!! Time went by really really quickly.

This weeks has been so great. It flew by, but it was so full of things.

Monday we went to Tarje (Target said all fancy like) and got NEW PENS. I was so excited I can't even begin to tell you. Never in my life did I think that I would be excited about PENS. Then we went to this amazing Sister's house for dinner. Her name is Lizzy and she is the raddest person you've ever met. She provided some great food and entertainment. Her son Sebastian is a haaammm. He was in his room when we came in, but when he came out he took one look at me and yelled, "IT'S A PRINCESS!!!!" and ran at me and gave me a big hug. It was the cutest thing EVER. He's super precious and then I was like his best friend all night. He calls me Sister Princess. That is a nickname I am willing to take on.

Tuesday we went to lunch with Sister Scurti, who Sister Eddington used to live with. So funny story. I used to work with her grandson at FYE. He was seriously the nicest person ever. Sister Scurti took is to Chili's and it was like the heavens had opened. Sweet, blessed restaurant food. Food that I DIDN'T have to cook. But of course something went wrong. I had on this super cute outfit and somehow managed to spill chocolate cake all over it. It was a master piece of an outfit and I was sad to see it go. BUT all of the chocolate came out, so it lives again! As you probably guessed since I talk about it all the time, there are too many lizards in Florida to possibly survive. I mean some time the population has to max out because they'll run out of food, but NO. They are EVERYWHERE. We went to the mission office and there was a big lizard on the door. So I logically screamed my head off, pushed Sister Eddington out of the way, and ran through the door into the office... which was full of Senior couples and the APs. They gave me funny looks. Now they KNOW I'm crazy. Then we met this lovely lady named Sister Barnett. She is just so cute and she is letting us help her clean out her house! Woot woot! SERVICE!!!

Wednesday was a beautiful day. It started off rough, but it ended so lovely. We were out looking for less actives and we went to visit this lady. I swear we almost died. She had no sidewalk to the front door, which is a problem since I don't believe in grass in Florida. First off it isn't real grass and second there are too many lizards and chiggars lying in wait in grass. Too dangerbous (the CORRECT way to pronounce dangerous). So I tiptoed to the front door after a big self peptalk. Sister Eddington was there and was terrified. There was a HUGE spiderweb right over the door. But good ol' Sister Eddy knocked on the door anyways! No one answered and while we were waiting the MOTHER OF ALL LIZARDS TROMPED ACROSS THE FRONT PORCH. You know what... it wasn't even a lizard. It.was.a.small.DRAGON. It was big and nasty, and it ran. We about died and dry heaved to death. The terror that overcame  us was an unparalleled new high. Then it was time to go and I high-knee jogged across the grass. Later that night we had the change to go to a devotional by Elder Zwick from the seventy. It was amazing. He challenged every person in every ward council in the whole mission to find someone and have them taught in there home within TEN DAYS.

Thursday was Zone Conference. IT WAS EPIC. EPIC. EPIC EPIC. HOLY COW. THIS WHOLE THING DESERVES CAPITALS. I RECEIVED SO MUCH PERSONAL REVELATION. WHY ISN'T EVERY DAY LIKE THIS. I LOVE IT. I ran into an Elder than I knew in high school. He didn't remember me. Surprise. Someone told me that I looked like Liv Tyler. How kind.

Friday. FRIDAY I GOT JIMMY JOHNS. OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE JIMMY JOHNS. It was the best day of my life. Praises be. Oh yeah. We got to teach Branson. It was great and we took the Bishop's daughter Megan with us. She did fantastic! We also got to teach a woman named Marsha. She was having a really difficult time and really needed us. She was right distraught, but we helped her. Our doorbell rang and I opened it. There was a man standing there with flowers. He apparently didn't get that he was at the wrong apartment when he saw my name tag so he went into a spiel about how he was this lady's ex. I finally stopped him and he shamefully walked away. I also killed a moth. All by myself. It was a glorious and magnificent moment!.. It was actually luck. Pure. Luck.

Saturday was purdy great too. We went and taught Marsha again and we took this amazing Sister with us. Her name is Sister Crews and she is just a miracle. She was able to help Marsha in ways that we couldn't and I'm so grateful that she came. Then we met a cute lady named Lois Price. She is just an angel. She lives in this assisted living home and she is so lovely! She told us all about her family and then gave us something that one of her friend's made. She is so wonderful. She came to church on Sunday, which made us super happy!!

Sunday had once again another miracle. TWO MORE PEOPLE WALKED IN OUT OF THE BLUE AND ASKED WHEN CHURCH STARTED SO THEY COULD COME. DOES THIS HAPPEN EVERYWHERE??? I THINK NOT!!! Seriously though. This is the second week in a row this has happened and the fourth time that I've heard of. Miracles are real, yo.

So I had a great week and it was amazing. I loved it and can't wait to see what happens this week. I love you all!!

love

Sister Perkes

P.S. Halloween is real here. It's like Christmas. I have never seen so many decorations. We don't know what we're missing out in Utah... no joke. 

Miracles Happen Once in a While 10.28.13

HOW ON EARTH HAVE I BEEN OUT HERE FOR 3 WEEKS. This. Is. Nonsense. Nonsense I say.

 

So anyway. This week has been crazy. On Tuesday my companion went to the doctor and I'm about 98% sure that she's a phony. First off her name is LuLu. First name. I'm sorry, but no reputable doctor is named LuLu. If they are they at least don't admit it. And they wouldn't be a doctor for adults!  She had Sister Eddington do some weeeeeird stuff.... she did a lot of walking back and forth in the room. Apparently that can help someone easily diagnose what's wrong with someone else. I personally couldn't tell what the heck anything Dr. Lulu was doing. It was scary.

 

Thursday was an odd day. A miraculous day!... but odd still. The day started off really rough and I was feeling pretty sad for no good reason. Then we went to zone conference and during the closing prayer I decided that today was going to be a GREAT day, and it was! Almost every door we knocked on opened, we got a less active family to come to the ward activity, and we found a family to teach! It was such a miracle. We knocked on the door and this little kid opened it. We ended up teach him, his two sisters, and their mom about the Restoration. It was great because the kids go to a Christian school and know all about the Bible and Prophets. It was a piece of cake. Then we gave them a Book of Mormon and they practically fought over it. It was such a MIRACLE. That right there is proof that Heavenly Father is watching out for every single one of us. Miracles happen when you have the faith and eyes to see them. They really do.

 

On Saturday we had the ward Halloween party. This. Ward. Is. The. Best. AMAZING. SENSATIONAL. FANTASTIC. They are just.. just top notch. There was a pie contest and a chili cook off. Us missionaries had to judge it. Man, it was difficult! But no complaints on this end! I LOVE PIE. There was also a costume contest and us sisters weren't about to be left out. We can't actually dress up and we didn't have much to work with, but we did it. We all "dressed" up like Princesses! I was Snow White, Sister Eddington was Belle, Sister Stockett was Esmerelda, and Sister Smedley was... whatever she wanted to be (some people thought Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Tinkerbell. I don't know. She's just a princess by herself). It was so fun and such a great environment. This ward is really into missionary work, which is going to be super fantastic. But apparently they don't feed the missionaries often... this may be a struggle since I like to eat...

 

ON THAT NOTE. I am being responsible!! Hold the phone, alert the media, try not to die. I am being just a regular adult over here! I do all of my dishes right after I use them. I keep things clean. I have baked THRICE this week. THRICE I SAY (muffins and cookies for the curious mind). I also cook food. By myself. Good food. It turns out rather tasty. Ask Sister Eddington. Mother, you no longer have to worry about me starving! All of those foods that I told you I could cook we make on a regular basis. Sister Eddington's mind has been blown. I showed her how we cook hot dogs and it was like I had just shown her what fire is. It was like magic.

 

So our living conditions. They are quite lovely. We have quite a nice kitchen and a really big living room with a futon. I'll send some pictures next week. We have a pretty big room, a washer and a dryer, and a medium sized closet. Sounds pretty great, right? Right. EXCEPT FOR THE WHOLE THING REEKS OF SMOKE. Reeks I tell you. We have tried everything. We have 3 air fresheners, we open the windows, and and and do all we can. Other than that it's nice. Sister Craig (the first lady of the Jacksonville Florida mission) asked us where we had been one day. We smelled that bad.

 

The best part about where we live though is our pet squirrel. He sits out our window and makes squirrel noises all day and all night. We love him so. His name is Mahana. We know he's a boy, and we considered naming him Moroni, but then we wouldn't be able to say, "Mahana! Get outta that tree!" It's so delightful. Sometimes he'll scamper up the tree with a little peanut. It's so precious. The other day he was really mad at me. Yelled right at my face in his little squirrel voice.. I should probably stop shouting at him and it would improve our relationship.. you think I would have learned with Kado.. THIS IS WHAT MY LIFE HAS COME TO.

 

So we had the chance to go to a baptism on Sunday. It was incredible. He's 15! And his friend baptized him, which made it that much better. While we were there 3 ladies walked in and said that they wanted to be baptized. They were just driving along, saw our church, and walked it. It's truly a miracle because our church is set back on the road and in between two HUGE Catholic Churches. They were really guided by the Spirit. The best part is that this has happened before. A man named Patrick just walked in and now he a really strong member. Such miracles. Really true miracles. God is in fact a God of miracles.

 

So I ran into my first Bible Basher. He came to me. He knocked on my door looking for new people to join his church. I told him I was a missionary and that I would take his pamphlet if he would take one of mine. He said sure and I went to get one. HE WALKED RIGHT IN. He walked right into our apartment!! I was a little surprised and rather offended. I did not invite him. Vampires aren't supposed to be able to come in unless you invite them... I guess I was wrong.. (That wasn't very nice and I'm so sorry). So he came in and told me that everything we believed in was wrong and how the Book of Mormon was about Joseph Smith. He has never even read one page. After about 5 minutes of me trying to get a word in of his babbling nonsense, Sister Eddington saved me. She told him he needed to leave. He left and a cried. Then later we saw him talking to another lady and she looked really angry. We smiled and waved at her and she waved back! One for the Mormons, none for the crotchety old man!

 

Such a happy note to end on! Let me make it even better! The family we taught moved. I know. Try not to cry to death. It's such a shame, but I'm okay! I know that there are more people here waiting to hear from me and Sister Eddington!

 

Love you all!! Have a blessed day!

 

Sister Perkes

 

 

P.S. If anyone has any ideas on how to not smell like smoke that would be great. It would be really nice. Our apartment smells like smoke and we have tried EVERYTHING. I also don't have handy dandy Pinterest... so I'm fresh out of ideas.

 

P.P.S. If anyone would like to send me some music that would be GREAT. We have a CD player in the car.

 

Tangled up in the MTC 10.4.13

First Week In FLORIDA? 10.21.13

Hey y'all!! (I can say that. I'm in the south now) 

I've made it to Florida. It is muggy, buggy, and full of trees. Weird looking trees. but trees all the same! My new companion is named Sister Eddington and she is fantastic! I love her o so much! we are serving in the Mandarin 2nd ward with another pair of sisters and the Assistants to the President. The senior couple in our ward, the Christensen's, work in the office so we see them quite a bit.

So how did I get here? Well I walked. That's why it took we so long to get here. Just kidding. We flew out of Salt Lake at 7:10. which meant we had to leave at 3:30 from the MTC, but Sister Blatter had to leave at 2:30 so we were already up. I was barely under the weight limit (my suitcase... not me). It was a miracle and tricky packing on my part. I slept through the whole first flight to Atlanta and the whole flight to Jacksonville. Don't worry, I didn't miss an missionary opportunities since I sat next to missionaries on both flights. All 33 of us new missionaries arrived at about 3 in the afternoon and then headed to the mission home. President and Sister Craig are such wonderful and amazing people. They really love each other, they love us, and they really love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a delicious southern meal and a mini-testimony meeting and did some role playing and then we went to go stay at member's houses. Me, Sister Blatter, and two other sisters went to stay with the Ellis family. They are so wonderful and he is the Bishop of a ward. I'm not sure which one... They were so interesting to talk with and really have us a great first night in Florida.

The next day we got up and had a short training at a stake center. Then all of the trainers showed up. We were already a pretty quite group, but the mixture of fear, excitement, and anticipations pretty much made it silent. This transfer 12 new areas were opened and I'm in one of them, which means... drum roll... I get a new apartment and a new CAR. That's right. A CAR. Heavenly Father answers prayers y'all. He listens. He does. Deep down I know that I'll be in a bike mission in the dead of summer though... I should have thought this one through better... 

Anyway. Sister Eddington (she's my new companion!!) has been out for 9 months and we are whitewashing this area, which means that both of us are new here. The A.P.s were kind enough to lend us their GPS since the roads here answer to no one and pretty much do whatever the heck they want. I have never been so lost. It makes me miss Utah. I digress. Sister Eddington is from Roosevelt Utah, has 11 siblings, has her associates from BYUi, sings like an angel, is going to BYU to study physics, and plays the piano. She is magical to say the least. She also makes the best grilled cheese and came with Ramen noodles. You can probably guess how I feel about her. Every night we say 3 things that we love about each other before we go to sleep (Such Sisters, right?) and it's always hard to narrow it down to three.

Since we are both brand new to the area and no one told them we were coming, things have been moving pretty slowly. But they're moving! We go out tracting and I am a master at passalong cards. If there was an olympics I'd be a gold medalist. We met a man named Branson. Yes, Branson. I know you all know that I automatically thought is Downton. Well I did. Brybil FOREVER. (Sister Eddington likes Downton. and Les Mis. And High School Musical, AND the Emperor's New Groove. Ask me not how I know this since it isn't Gospel related.) So Branson took our pamphlet, said he would come to church in two weeks, and we set up a return appointment. He couldn't come to church THIS week because he's in morning since his team lost. We actually met him because he was throwing away his Georgia State stuff after they lost to Vanderbilt. I wish that meant something to me.....

So I'm having a great time here in Florida. There are SO MANY LIZARDS. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. EVERY. WHERE. And frogs. Yuck. Our apartment smells like smoke so I hope we don't have to teach someone about the word of wisdom anytime soon because out investigator would be SO confused. I'm not even kidding. Sister Eddington and I smell like we smoke at least a pack a day. We reek. Sister Eddington and I saw a medium sized hill the other day and about died. It's probably the tallest land mass in Florida. Enjoy the mountains my friends, enjoy them.

Well that's all folks.

love,

Sister Perkes

P.S. Our ward is amazing! I already saw a lady that I will forcibly make my best friend. She is SO COOL. I just want to be her. Our bishop is also fantastic and we love him already! We had stake conference this week so it was kind of hard to meet everyone in our ward. There is a brother from Utah who went to Jordan the last year at the old high school. We also met out ward mission leader. Feel free to peruse the pamphlet on Chastity that is put out by the Church. HE'S IN IT. It's the one where the couple is gazing at each other. 

The Roller Coaster of the MTC 10.11.13

This week has full of ups and downs. Mostly ups, thankfully, but there were some really deep downs. So I'm running short on time so this email won't be the glorious epistle that the last one was. 

Last week when I emailed I didn't say anything about my district! They are wonderful people! We have 6 elders and 3 sisters. I shall now proceed to say a small bit about each.

Elder Harris- He's quite, but MAAANN he's got a presence. He's rather tall and has a super strong testimony. He's one of those men of few words that can just say something and it will hit you. He's awesome.

Elder Van Buren- Elder Van Buren never ceases to amaze me. He's a spiritual giant and he just graduated high school! In his spare time he enjoys playing football and watching chick flicks. The Lucky One is his favorite.

Elder Ziegler- Another who just graduated. He has the most awesome ties! He started out being really quite, but now he has grown into his own and makes these comments in class about the Gospel that really make you think. He's fantastic.

Elder Johnson- Elder Johnson claims he is from Alpine, Utah but he is in fact from Ghana. He is really cool and is a convert. He shares things that are so amazing and he says that when he gets out into the mission field he's just going to run up to people and yell, " IT's TRRRUUUEEEEEEE!!!" 

Elder Dunnaway- WHAT A SPIRITUAL GIANT. WOOOOOWWW. He's magical. He waxes eloquently quite frequently amazes the pants off of us.

Elder Nixon- He's a ham and a half. He starts comments so dramatically, but then he ends on such a strong spiritual note. You wonder how it wound up being like that, but you love it. 

I'm going to miss them a lot! Elder Harris, Elder Van Buren, and Elder Johnson are going to Birmingham, Alabama. The rest of them are going to Cincinnati, Ohio.

This week we taught A REAL LIFE INVESTIGATOR. Her name is Claudia and she is such a lovely lady. We sadly only got to teach her twice, but it was so cool to teach someone that isn't your teacher role playing. 

I have sadly run out of computer time, but I'll write a letter and have it typed up here. Thanks for all of the emails! I love them all, but I only have half an hour on the computer, so please send letters! I can get those every day. Dear Elder is really the way to go since I get them the day you send them. I'll be leaving the MTC on the 15th so keep that in mind if you do want to send a letter.

Love,

Sister Perkes