If Some Missionaries Take Down a Tree Will Anyone See It? 10.20.14

Hellur from LB!

What a week. It went by so quickly!

There was a baptism in the ward this week. His name is kelvin and he
is great. He's going to be a wonderful asset to our ward.

This week we had a scare off. The sisters scared the begeebers out of
us, so we got them back. It was pretty great. I'll try and send the
video.

Well also spent this whole STINKIN week working on power points for
active members. It's a lot more work than I anticipitated. But we will
prevail!

This week I learned a lesson in an odd way. I learned a lesson of
patience, endurance, and the importance of working smart.. We went to
do service at a member's house and they had a big tree limb hanging
inbetween their other trees. Well us missionaries got it in our minds
that we were going to get that branch down. We tried just about
everything. We hit it with baseballs, water bottles, footballs, and
just about anything else we could find. We even tied a water bottle to
a rope and threw it over. That worked the best, but it didn't get it
down. The members sat there on their porch and watched us. They called
it a spectator sport and though it was pretty hilarious, which it was.
About every 10 minutes the members whose house we were at would give
us some new tool to try and help us. At one point we even had a rake
tied to an end of a ladder and taped a water bottle beneath it to hold
it up. We tried just about everything. Most everyone wanted to just
give up, but we kept going. Somehow Elder Dean got the rope wrapped
around the tree trunk and pulled it down. That thing came down and
lodged itself in the dirt. It was like he sword in the stone, but
reverse. It was a massive miracle! The whole ordeal was quite comical.
This taught me a lot about life. It taught me that we cannot give up.
Even if it looks too difficult we have to finish. LIKE BEING ON A
MISSION. There are lots of times when I just want to give up, but I
can't. We have so many tools to use that Heavenly Father has given us
to do missionary work. None of them are given to hurt us or to hinder
us. They are given to us to help us succeed when we use them right. We
just have to find the one that will work best for us, and for our
investigators. It will be different for every single one. I also
learned the importance of using the tools in new ways. When we work
hard and we work smart miracles happen.

This week we also had a less active tell us why she doesn't come to
church. She doesn't come because she "just can't feel inadequate in
any other areas right now." HOW SAD. If I could put that in bold I
would. Church is not the place to feel sad and inadequate. If you feel
bad when you go to church, do something about it! I hope that we can
help her see how much she NEEDS church. She hasn't been for 18 years,
so she has probably long forgotten by now. Church is a place where we
go to remember how well we are doing and how much Heavenly Father
loves us. Sister Davidson shared this quote with me, "church isn't a
museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners." So true. Church is
where it's at, and where we all should be.

Hope you have a good week!

Love,
Sister Perkes

P.s. I've developed Sister Snelgrove's cough that she has had for like
a month. We saw brother Matt this week and it turns out that she has a
very mild form of bronchitis. Joooooyyyy.