These are some very influential ladies...or rather chicas:)

 Forgive the fact that we`ve been teary eyed, but oh how I love the Rodhains:) Mes cheres parents francais.

Hello my beautiful friends and family,

Can you believe it? I`m coming home. I feel like the past 4 days I`ve been living in some crazy dream. I keep putting stuff in my bags (who are we trying to kid, cramming stuff in my bags), thinking, ``Is this real?``

This week was really great! We were lucky enough to have another Sister`s Conference, I jokingly referred to it as the Sister Perkins Going Away Party:) Some things never change:) Yay! It was so nice to see 5 of my old companions and to see all of the new BEAUTIFUL sisters who just came into the mission. I was slightly envious of all of the knowledge they already had about being awesome missionaries and even more for all of the experiences I know they are going to have. But then I remembered that the Lord has been so good to me and given me the things I needed to learn. 

Yesterday was a very tender Sunday for me. I got to see my beloved Frere and Soeur Rodhain from the Quebec ward. Frere Rodhain was the high council speaker and it felt like home seeing them again. If my joy wasn`t already full the sweet little branch of Ste. Foy sang ``Dieu soit avec toi jusqu`a au revoir`` and the speakers said so many kind things. And of course, I cried. After the meetings Soeur Rodhain scooped me up in a hug and made me promise to come back. I really hope it is much sooner rather than later. 

Now that this beautiful 18 month experience is nearly over, I can feel nothing but the deepest gratitude. Yes, there is a small twinge of sadness and even some longing to see what happens next in the CMM. But above all I feel gratitude. I know that this experience blessed my life above anyone else`s. I know that the Lord took a very broken heart and a somewhat less than contrite spirit and He made me shine again. He reminded me of my divine nature. He gave me so many amazing companions who taught me lessons about love, growth, patience, testing...and charity. He taught me how to love people that I don`t know just because they are a beloved spirit of His. He taught me that ``it`s not about me``. He taught me what it really means to endure to the end joyfully. He taught me that there is no such thing as a ``perfect plan`` unless it`s His. He taught me what the Atonement really means and that is does apply to everyone, including me. The list could go on for days but the point is I know that I have so much to be grateful for. And I know just as He has led and guided me for the past 18 months He will continue to be there for whatever lies ahead. 

Thank you for your love and support! What is a missionary without their fan club? Thank you for reading these silly letters every week. I know that I think I`m really funny, but I hope you laughed a little too. And more importantly I hope you felt something, and were reminded you that you are a child of God and He loves YOU!  I have no doubt about that.

Ready or not here I come:)

A la prochaine!

Soeur Perkins

 We heart attacked one of our little friends. Look how awesome my Hagrid hair is. If I can't find a job after the mission maybe I could just be the game keeper for Hogwarts?

We went to get sushi for one of the Sister's birthdays. Yeah try ordering Sushi in French. 

I remember a while back listening to President counsel a Sister who was going home soon. He said, "At the end of your mission your body has nothing left to give. You have to solely rely on the spirit to keep you moving." He's right. My body is telling me to stop, but with a lot of spiritual help we keep moving on. 

This week was great as they so often are and this one  was filled with a lot of praying, as they often are, but for some reason I feel like I need to share two specific experience from the week. 

On Friday night we did our normal nightly planning. In this area it's pretty easy to plan because we mostly knock. We picked an area and a specific road we wanted to knock. Then we had a companionship prayer and asked that if the area wasn't right that the Lord would direct us elsewhere. The next day we arrived on the road after about 1000 different things going wrong and it felt wrong. We stood there looking at each other. And then out of the corner of my eye about a mile away I could see this building. "Let's go there." So we started walking and ended up just walking down this random street and picked the first building we saw the first door we knocked on this man from Cameroon opened and let us in. We had an amazing first lesson and he kept remarking on the spirit that he felt. He took the Book of Mormon with so much sincerity and was so thrilled that we were coming back. 

What this experience reminded me is that our plans are not always the best ones.But the Lord has the big plan and if we do as Alma directs to "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings" we will never really be lost but will find that the Lord has already prepared the path before us. 

The second experience happened over the course of many days.On Monday Sister May and I went to get our groceries from a store that is about a ten minute walk from our house, you have to walk over a freeway over pass and some other shops. On the way home, with all of our groceries and a blizzard raging  I realized in a panic that my tag was not on my coat. So we spent the next while retracing our steps and found nothing. I was heart broken. It might be hard to understand, but as a missionary your tag is more than just another article that you wear everyday, it's a tangible reminder of who you are and what the Savior did for you. In my little pity walk back to our apartment I prayed that my tag would be found by someone who would have a kind heart. I even thought maybe someone would find it and decide to look up the church and maybe even get baptized:) but at the end of my prayer I prayed that whatever the Lord wanted to happen with that little tag would be done and that I could be happy without it. I felt a lot better. 

On Friday Sister May and I were walking past the same store to go knocking at some apartments near the store. As we walked by Sister May stopped and in shock said, "Your TAG!" There it was covered in mud from the melted snow. I was so happy and felt like a part of me had come home. I wrapped it in a tissue and later that night I washed that little tag until it shone again. Sister May called it my "Prodigal Tag". It might seem weird or corny but  this experience reminded of two things,  if something is important to us, it is important to the Lord. He knew that tag had sentimental importance. Another thing it reminded me of is that when we submit to the will of the Lord we are blessed. Even if that blessing is as simple as finding your missionary tag in a patch of melted snow. I know you're sitting there in your chair thinking that I'm a little off my rocker, but I know that the Lord uses these silly little experience to prepare us to recognize His hands in the much more important ones. 

I hope you have a beautiful week. As for me I will be soaking up the sights, sounds, and smells of Quebec. 

I love you.

Bisous Bisous

Soeur Perkins

 Club Cool: Click, Click! Sister May has a little sister named Yazmin and she started a club named Club Cool which consists of herself and two other people. So we started calling our investigator pool club cool:) Click click!

  Soeur May and yours truly in Vieux Quebec

 Scary!

if you ever wanted to know what a heart attack waiting to happen here it is:)

We still have snow!!! Everywhere. On Friday  we got like 200 feet of snow. And on Saturday we got another 400 feet of snow. AND on Sunday we got another 700 feet of snow!!!! That's over a thousand feet of snow. Where is spring?

In other news life here is gooood! Oh I love this little area. It's a gold mine. Everyday is jam-packed with tender mercies. They are everywhere and they are oh so beautiful! Even when we are trudging through thousands of feet of snow up and down hills chasing after buses and being splattered by cars, it is oh so good.

This week we decided to get to know some of our less active members. The Relief Society president gave us a pretty substantial list of people who she wanted us to work with. Two of them being older women who live in assisted living homes. On Tuesday we visited a little lady named Colombe Benoit she just celebrated her 110th birthday. That's a lot of candles, right? She was as cute and as frail as you would expect someone of 110 to be. When the nurse introduced us to her she said, 'MORMONS! I used to go to that church. But now I'm here. I guess you came to look for me?" She said this with a very accusing look on her face while she wagged her little frail finger at us. We explained(actually we had to yell about 1 1/2 inches from her right ear, because let's face it she's 110. Things stop working after a while.) that we just came for a visit. She didn't seem convinced. So after yelling a million questions we asked if we could sing her a song. She was really excited so we yelled/sang "Repands le Soleil" she was so happy and seeing the grin on her face when we finished made me realize we were the ones who benefited. 

Then on Thursday we went to visit another member Soeur Laflamme she is in her 80's and also lives in an assisted living center that looks like one of those old 1920's mob boss houses. Sister May and I were in awe as we walked around. I guess the nurse assumed we knew were we were going because she abandoned us. We knew her room number so we made our way there. When we got to the floor that the room should have been on we realized that it wasn't on that floor. So we tried to go down the stairs but there was a big steel door with a security pad on it and unless you know the code you're not going anywhere. So we ask this cute little man if he knew the code and he said "I have no idea." So we're trapped on this floor for like a solid 15 minutes. Finally, another little old man walks by and says, "Do you want to go down?" We were so relieved to find out the code was 3456. Brilliant. So, we're still on the hunt for out less active and we run into the same nurse who let us in and she looks at us like marbles are falling out of our heads. "Oui?" Us: "Yeah. We never found her." Then she tells us that she is in the dinning hall eating dinner and that we can wait in the "sitting room". We had to parade through the dinning hall and all of the old timers are looking at us like "Who are you?" and finally Soeur Laflamme sees us and yells "MORRMOOONNS!" We explained that after she finished her dinner we could talk to her. So we went to the sitting area that was complete with Louis XVI armchairs and cages full of little yellow canaries. After a few minutes Sister Laflamme found us and we all went to her "apartment" for a lesson. We got ourselves situated and started asking questions . Where were you born? Do you have any children? And then halfway through answering she fell asleep. So in my brain I'm thinking "Uh-oh!" So I say really loudly "CAN we sing for you?". She was also really excited. For some reason I thought "You can Make the Pathway Bright" was a good idea. It wasn't because A)it's longer than I remember and B) Sister May didn't know it C) Sister May can never read French Hymns she always gets lost. So for the first verse all was well until we got to the chorus and Soeur Laflamme decided to join in. This is where Sister May and I both lost it because we sounded like three very distressed cats. By the end of the song there are tears streaming down both of our faces and Soeur Laflamme says, "That was beautiful!" In the middle of asking if there was anything we could do she fell asleep again. And then all of the sudden she woke up and said, "Let's sing again!" She chose "How Great Thou Art". Once again all was well until she joined in during the chorus. By this point Sister May and I are both sweating bullets from laughing so hard. It was so pitiful but Soeur Laflamme just loved it. I can't wait for this weeks appointment:)

So once again, we knocked a lot. Normally we've found that most people are very kind (we found a gorgeous couple from Colombia this week!), but this one particular night everyone we knocked into or street contacted was teetering more towards not super nice to really really mean. Both of us feeling very, very discouraged, I broke down in tears.I kept thinking "Why are they rejecting us? They don't even know us? We didn't do anything for them to be so rude." We kept knocking tears and all and wouldn't you know it, it kept happening. I'm ashamed to say I let my faith falter. And then slowly but surely so did Sister May. By the end of the night we were discouraged, cold, and brokenhearted. Our apartment that is usually filled with laughter, chatter, and guitar picking was silent.  We planned, brushed our teeth and went to bed. That night I laid there throwing a pretty impressive pity party. "Why were they so mean to ME?" Then as if someone was sitting right next to me I heard, "They weren't rejecting you, little one. They were rejecting me."  I felt so selfish and sad. Ever since I've been thinking about the scripture in John that says" Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." He is my Savior, Redeemer and Friend. Being scoffed and looked down up, having people yell and swear and slam their doors in our face are just menial compared to what He did for us. And because He loves them too we can never give up. 

I hope your week is warm! Sunny! Full of laughter and something yummy like baked oatmeal, Sister May and I are obsessed. I'll make it for you when I get home:)

I love you!

Bisous Bisous!

Soeur Perkins

We felt like these masks on the walls in our apartment were a good representation of our personalities

My new desk. Scary how similar this color is to my bedroom color back home. This is such a darling apartment. We have no complaints other than the fact that the kitchen sink only has two temperatures. Volcano scalding hot and polar ice caps cold. 

This is Yuong, she is one of Sister Pace's recent converts. She is from Vietnam and has the most beautiful spirit. She makes me look HUGE! 

Mes parents Francais. Rodhain's are the greatest members! This is our "last supper" before we left Quebec. 

Hello!!!!

From what I've heard everyone is doing really great:) I'm also doing great and I'm really excited for the countless crazy stories that have already taken place. Oh my goodness, the stories. 

This week, like I said, was memorable. We knocked, and knocked, and knocked. It was pretty great! One of the days we went knocking (Wednesday?) The first door we knocked on was this cute little Asian man. And when I say little I mean little. I was easily a head taller. He started talking to us in an unidentifiable language and me, being the airhead I am, decide that he's just mumbling and this isn't a language at all. So, then I decide to try to speak to him in sign language only to realize that this poor man is indeed speaking another language and is not deaf. So, then we show him our tags. His little eyes got huge and then he ran into the backroom of his apartment. We just stood at the door. Then he came back with his residency card! We were dying. He thought we were the "bobbies" as Sister May put it. So, then we pull out a pamphlet and say "Jeeez-us". Then he smiled and took the pamphlet. He was cute. Then we knocked on another door. We did our little missionary thing and the girl at the door said, "I'm already a member." Whoops!. (funny sidenote: The Qubecoise use whoops when they've learned something new that is contrary to previous thoughts. Like 'Whoops! Nephi was a prophet.') Then the third door we knocked we were let in and invited to Bible Study. Sweet! We couldn't stop laughing. Pretty sure Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. 

Further proof being that yesterday the Branch President introduced me as "Sister Jenkins" then they did it again in relief society. Now Sister May thinks it's hi-larious to call me Sister Jenkins. So, I guess I'll just finish my mission as Sister Jenkins. Maybe I can get new tags? Speaking of which they all keep breaking. I think it's an omen of the end. Boo!

This week in personal study I read in 1 Nephi 17 about when the Lord commands Nephi to build a ship, his brothers are scoffing at him and everyone keeps telling him he can't do it. But Nephi kind of just blows them off, because he knows what the Lord has asked him to do. Nephi goes to the mountain to ask the Lord how he should make the tools he needs to build this boat. And the Lord gives him the answer. Then the Lord tells Nephi how they will receive nourishment and how they will essentially survive on the sea. "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.Yea, and the Lord said also that: After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction; yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem" Later in the story we see that as the kept the commandments they were taken care of. Their nees were met, but once they rebelled life got pretty rough. This story is such a good example of how when we do things in the Lords way we have no need to fear. .I feel a lot like Nephi. Here we are in the uncharted land of Ste. Foy. We have been commanded to do something that seems impossible, but we haven't been discouraged. We know He is in charge and we know He keeps His promises. I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that as long as we are the Lord's side we really have no need to worry. Tout ira bien. 

I hope you have a beautiful, sunny, happy week! Read, pray, go to church! 

I love you!

Bisous Bisous!

Soeur Perkins

 We did service for Carnival, which is a huge winter festival here in Quebec. 

We were in charge of this kiddie slope. Before they left us they gave me about two hundred instructions in really thick Quebecois and then gave me this radio that I had no idea how to use. Ah technology why must you bother me so?


Hello!!! 

How is everyone doing? I'm doing really great! This week was pretty crazy we received information last week that this last Saturday we would be getting a surprise transfer call because 4 sisters would be arriving early from the MTC. So this whole week we've all been in a panic trying to figure out who would be leaving, because President told us that one of us would be leaving to open an area in Ste. Foy which is about 15 minutes from my current area. I really wanted it to be me. Not because I don't like Quebec but Sister C and Sister Pace both served there before it closed last year, and I just felt like it would really complete my mission to be able to open an area that meant so much to both of them. I've never asked to go anywhere or to be put with a specific companion, I've trusted that the Lord knows who I need as a companion and where I need to go. So, instead I prayed that I would be able to be happy with whatever He decided. Early on Thursday morning at about 5 am I received this beautiful confirmation that all is well. I knew that whatever President felt inspired to do, would be exactly what I needed for this last month. Well, we got our call and Sister May and I will be opening the Ste. Foy area and Sister L will be staying here to train a new sister. I am so excited! I was literally jumping up and down. I know it won't be easy, but I'm excited for that. I feel like I've reached a point in my mission where I need big scary challenges. No plateauing here. The next four weeks are going to be busy, but I'm ready. 

In other exciting news... this week there was a huge young single adults conference with YSA here in Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and my beloved Ottawa. I didn't want to get my hopes up but I really, really, really wanted to see the amazing Jeffrey Chen who is the most incredible recent convert that I could have ever asked for. I wanted to be able to see him one last time as Sister Perkins. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw him walk into the chapel? I was so stunned and so proud. He is such a great member of the church and such a good example! You should have seem how he beamed!  I felt so blessed to have had a tiny little part in his conversion process. I was also able to see a lot of other familiar faces  which made my heart ache and rejoice at the same time. It will never be the same again. I know these beautiful friends that I've made from Gatineau to Quebec will be people who not only influence me here today, but will be a driving force for me long after I've moved back into "normal" life. I feel so blessed to have met so many dear people. They are so special to me more than words could ever express. Ottawa you are a part of me. I love you! 

This week was emotionally charged. I think the end of anything feels that way. But I've been thinking a lot about change. How I've changed, how you have changed. I have changed a lot on my mission, but at the same time I'm the same. The thing that I've noticed the most in this whole process is that I'm not really afraid of change anymore. This week Sister May was asking me about my experience flushing and training in Zarahemla. Oh is that ever a story! It's funny now, but at the time it was scary. But amongst all of the insanity in Zarahemla, Hochelaga, Dows Lake, or wherever. I have never felt closer to my Father in Heaven. I knew He was there, and that He was aware of my situation. I often used the words of Mormon verses 7-8 for extra strength:

"And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people."

This whole process is not to just change the lives of other people but to help us, the missionaries or members, of this church that we too need to change and return to that God who created us all. Change is good and is a divine manifestation of love. Our God is good. 

I hope you have a great week! I know mine will be crazy and busy:) Keep your chin up! I love you bunches!!

Bisous Bisous!

Soeur Perkins

 Sometimes I feel this way after dealing with 19 year old boys:) Or worse people who act like they are 19 when they are not:)

  : Sister May and I hanging out on some lovely ice furniture

 the entrance of the Ice Hotel

 Eskimo wedding:) So cute!

A nice, cozy ice bed.

That's when you know you've been on a mission for a long time. I was trying to turn on the computer from the backside of the computer, like the side where all of the cords and fans come out. Yeah. So my companions just had to explain to me the difference between the monitor and the computer. I don't understand technology anymore. It's pretty weird. 

Last Monday we had a really cool opportunity to go to the famous Hotel de Glace (Ice hotel). That's right a 44 room hotel made of ice!!!! AND people pay to sleep there! Like hundreds of dollars! Crazy, right? It was a lot of fun but suuuuuper cold inside. Naturally, right?  Except for half of the Elders thought it would be warm so they didn't wear coats. How in the world could a giant ice cube be warm? We had a lot of fun, even though we were freezing!:) The next day we had Zone Conference. My last Zone Conference. It was weird. It's been really weird for the last little while I've had a lot of "lasts". But I know that the Lord has a lot of "Firsts" in store. I said "Good bye" to an Elder going home this transfer and it just felt too surreal that I would be seeing him soon. It's all too weird. The worst part about talking to people on my last ZC was the fact that I decided to curl my hair that morning. If you think I'm bad with computers, I'm worse with hair styling tools. So I burned my neck with the curling iron and even though it left this really lovely burn mark that looked like lungs, in a room full of immature 19 year old boys it looked like something else. I was so mortified! C'est la vie, pas vraiment...c'est MA vie! 

Three weeks ago when Sister May arrived we knocked for like a million hours and found a new investigator named Nancy. There was something special about her. We set up a return appointment, but when we came back she wasn't there, her boyfriend told us she went to the hospital for some stomach problems. For the last 3 weeks we've been stalking her house. We knew there was a reason she was the only person that day who let us in. On Thursday we had a member to go with us to a lesson and on our way to pick her up our investigator cancelled his lesson. So we had a member and no lesson. We racked our brains and felt very strong about passing by Nancy. We passed by and Voila! she was there. We taught her about prayer and she was a little confused because she had learned how to pray in the Catholic church with the book and the chaplet. The whole nine yards. After we taught her how we pray she asked if she could try. We couldn't have been more excited. So she prayed and gave one of the most tender and beautiful prayers. We all sat in amazement, including the member. Then she asked, "What that a bad prayer?" We told her that it was a perfect prayer. She looked at her chaplet and prayer book and asked, "So do I need these anymore?" We told her that she didn't need them but it was her choice. "I think I'll just throw them away, now that I know how to say my own prayers." And then she stopped and said, "Wait! I'll recycle them, that's better for the environment." 

We went knocking on Saturday, I've found that the last few doors are usually the most important. It seems like it's a test of how far we're really willing to go to do the Lord's work. By the last few doors, after everyone saying "No" you kind of feel like what's the point? Back to Saturday we're almost done with a building and we get to this point where the last two doors are in this dark creepy hallway. Of course my two chicken companions are too scared so I knock and no one answers the first door. I knock the last door and this Quebecois man opens the door. So I explain who we are and what we believe. I usually have no clue what I'm going to say at most door contacts, but I asked him if he believed in God. He said "No." Pretty typical around these parts. Then I launch into how much God loves him and that he is indeed a child of God and he is infinitely important. Then I asked if we could come back and much to our surprise he said, "Yes." I thought I heard him wrong until he went to check his work schedule. It was an amazing testimony to me that we never know who will be interested. 

In my personal study I've started the Livre de Mormon again. I'm so excited! I love the beginning! I love Nephi! It's so basic. So simple. Every time I read those words "I Nephi having been born of goodly parents..." my heart leaps. It's like home. I love gospel basics: Faith, Hope, Love, they are simple, and so beautiful. One thing that's really stood out to me as I've started the LDM again, is sacrifice.  Lehi and his family sacrificed a lot. Money, land, comfort, food. Why? To be obedient. I often ask myself why I do the things I do, why do I sacrifice the things I did to come on a mission.Obedience. We are constantly asked to give things up a lot of the times we don't know why and more often the not we are questioned by those around us, but we do it because we know he can make more out of us than we can on our own. Elder Russel M. Nelson said, "Once we know who we are and the royal lineage of which we are a part, our actions and our direction in life will be more appropriate to our inheritance." We sacrifice things, in order to learn who we are. Without fancy houses, or cars....or computers:) We sacrifice to learn what is really important to us. We sacrifice to learn what we can live without. We sacrifice to remember who we are. And when we've given all that we have our Father in Heaven gives us blessings that are so unimaginable. In Malachi the Lord invites us to test him to see that if we give up our tithes if he will not open the windows of heaven. If you don't believe it works, try it. The Lord always keeps His promises. 

I hope your week is lovely and warm! Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I love you!!!!

Soeur Perkins

This is our "View" table. We feel like we're on a talk show every time we eat dinner. These are the wine glasses we got from an investigator who forgot we don't drink wine. Word of Wisdom lesson coming right up! So we're drinking grape juice and this particular evening Sister May taught me that in England they say "Cheers big ears!" before they cling their glasses together. 

So this week was: tiring, amazing, funny, WINDY, cold, silly, short, and a miracle. 

Let's start with windy. So on Tuesday we were driving to visit an investigator and we had ridiculous 100kph winds and the night before we had something called freezing rain. Which is basically when the sidewalks get covered in thick sheets of ice. It's pretty epic. So, we are driving (on cleared roads) to visit this investigator and we're parking at the same time this guy is walking out into his driveway. Well this huge gust of wind starts pushing him towards us and he's on a thick sheet of ice so he can't stop himself. Everyone was screaming and then all at once the wind stopped so he stopped. It was like a movie. I couldn't stop laughing until it almost happened to me like two minutes later. 

Miracles: Wow. We had two really amazing miracles this week. The first one took place on Saturday. About a week ago we went knocking in this area called Wendake. It's an Indian Reservation. (family, you take the girl off the indian reservation but you can't take the indian reservation out of the girl.) So, we're knocking and this lady opens her door and says "I'm really sick today, so please come back another day." People says this all of the time but rarely mean it. Later we met another man who told us we could come back. So this last Saturday we went back to meet him. He ended up not being super duper interested, we decided to pay the woman who told us to come back a little visit. She opened the door and as soon as she saw us she opened the door and said, "Come in!" So with big eyes and our mouths hanging open we went in. This poor woman was indeed having a very hard day. So we talked to her for a while about her life and found out that that very day was the same day her mother had passed away. We shared a little bit of the Plan of Salvation and she was so touched she asked us to "please come back!". Well, you don't have to ask us twice or even three times:) It was a really tender experiences and manifested to me that God is indeed in the very details of our lives. We just have to be where He can find us. 

If that beautiful miracle wasn't enough, yesterday we were having our after church correlation with our WML and someone knocks on the door to tell us there is an investigator waiting to talk to someone. We invited her in and find out her name is Sofie and she just decided to finally come and check out what Mormons believe. Once again my mouth was opened and my eyes were huge. This beautiful 18 year old girl talked to us a little more about her life and why she wants to have this church in her life. She said, "I realized that I want to be a better person and you have a community of beautiful people." She asked us about a million questions and then left happily with her own Book of Mormon and an appointment to see us again next Sunday. 

What this experience taught me is that miracles are still happening today. Everyday. They happen on ordinary Saturdays, ordinary Sundays during ordinary correlation meetings, they happen on the sidewalk, in living rooms, in grocery stores. I'm reading (during my "free time" I finish eating early enough to read) this amazing book I found in my apartment called "A Return to Virtue" by sister Elaine S. Dalton of the General Young Women's Presidency. In one of the chapters she talks about the "little lad" who gave up his five fishes and two loaves. And how this was probably just an ordinary day for him. He was probably coming home from doing the family shopping or out selling bread and fish and decided what he would get in return for giving up this bread would be worth more than what he could earn selling it. Whatever the case this was an ordinary day. But what happened that day was a miracle. His small contribution fed over five thousand people. There is a quote from Sister Dalton's book from Elder James E. Faust "It has been said that the church doesn't necessarily attract great people.but more often makes ordinary people great. Many nameless people with gifts equal only to five loaves and two small fishes magnify their callings and serve without attention or recognition. feeding literally thousands."  I have a testimony that whatever we give to the Lord whether it be 5 loaves of bread and two fishes, or 18 months of time, hours working on a relief society lesson, hours in prayer for a wayward family member. Whatever we give him the Lord will take our efforts, multiply them and give us a miracle. Look for miracles, because they happen when you least expect it.

I hope you have a lovely week! I love you ever so dearly!

Bisous Bisous!

Soeur Perkins

greenie baby`s greenie dinner. Isn`t she so cute?

Bonjour! 

This week was a good one. We laughed a lot as usual. Sister May has the most explosive laugh. It`s loud and high. A lot of the time we`re laughing because she`s laughing not because anything is actually funny. 

What wasn`t funny this week were the temperatures. -40 anyone? Yes -40 Celsius.  So horrible. But we survived. Actually we decided since we couldn`t really go knocking to go see Lucy. This was Sister May`s first Lucy experience and it was exactly that, an experience. As soon as we walk in Lucy says ``Here she is! My tahitian.`` We never said that. Sweet Sister May attempts to explain that she was born in England but her mom is from Jamaica. But all Lucy hears is Jamaica. So she launches into Jamaican coffee and pulls out this big coffee tin called Jamaican me Crazy. Then she asks Sister May what it means, why they named the coffee this. Sister May tries to explain the play on words then Lucy asks, ``So am I making Jamaica crazy or is Jamaica making me crazy?`` She asked this question about 500 times even after Sister May explained that it was a play on words. I kept thinking your making ME crazy. It was pretty funny. She also made us soup which was a very fine gesture. She had a basket of crackers on the table for us too. I took a cracker about halfway into my soup and Sister L looked at me with big warning eyes, but I ate it anyways. Bad move. I`m pretty sure it was the first cracker ever invented because it tasted that old. This thing wasn`t just stale, it was rancid. I looked at the other two Sisters and the three of us tried not to laugh while Lucy still kept asking about Jamaican me crazy. Crazy is one way of describing the day.

Since it was so blasted cold last week poor Sister L started to come down with a really horrible cold. So we let her sleep for a couple of hours. I think I`ve forgotten to mention this but Sister May is super duper talented. She plays the guitar so since we had a few hours she taught me some chords,  I`m like Johnny Cash now;) Kidding but it was really fun to sing and play hymns. We`re hardcore. 

Another thing I`ve picked up from Soeur May is her accent. Not all of the time, but every now and then I catch myself and I say something weird like ``toe-ma-toe`` instead of tomato. It`s really funny. 

So, we`ve been trying this really interesting method of missionary work with the Elder team here in Quebec where we work with each others super solid investigators. We figure they need more support. So we`ve been meeting with Steven who is a super amazing investigator. His story is quite incredible but super long. Basically he`s done everything in his power to change his life but he`s hitting a ton of roadblocks. Like Job from the Bible. It hasn`t just been raining it`s been pouring on this poor man. Yesterday he found out that he won`t be able to get baptized this week because of something that happened in his past. He was so down. I just wanted to cry fro him. He wants it so bad. We had a little lesson and talked about trials. I could see so much hope for him even though he couldn`t. But then I realized that trials are kind of like that. We`re stuck looking at the problem but everyone else can see the solutions. We allow ourselves to hope so much for the people around us but forget that the same God loves and works for us too. We shared the classic 1 Nephi 3:7 and the room filled with hope as he read Nephi`s famous `I will go and do the things the Lord commands for I know the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of man save he shall prepare a way.`` There is always a way, we just have to remember to look back to Him who knows all. Please pray for my friend Steven. 

I hope you have a beautiful, joyful, warm week! Can you believe it`s almost February? 

I love you!

Bisous

Soeur Perkins

 so everyone and their mom has a cat here. And one of our investigators has a little cat and so I decided to play with it because it always wants to play with someone. Well, he attacked me. So, Sister Limburg made me this nice little cast. They even wrote on it:) the gorgeous Sister May!!!!

 the gorgeous Sister May!!!!

So after too many days of warm beautiful sunshine we had blizzard after blizzard last week. Yay! Just to illustrate how cold it is let's says it's a balmy -32 Celsius in these parts. Gotta love a little wind chill. 

I have a somewhat embarrassing story to tell about the snow and cold. Yesterday (Sunday) we get a phone call from a member about 45 minutes before church and she said "Sister church is canceled! Do not go outside until the blizzard passes. Please call the Elders and let them know." So I called the Elders to tell them about our Sabbath Snow day and they told me they were going to call the bishop just to make sure and that they would let us know. Meanwhile in all of my apostateness I danced around the house yelling "SNOW DAY!!! SNOOOOOOW DAAAAY!" Not because I hate church (obviously, right?) But more because my whole mission I've dreamed about it being so darn miserable that we have to have a Snow Day. I've never had one before. Mid dance and snowman building talk we get a call from the Elders to inform us that we were still having sacrament meeting. I felt so bad that our poor greenie had to see that... Oh my goodness speaking of the greenie....

So on Wednesday we picked up the beautiful Sister May! We were so happy because Sister May basically already served a 10 month mission here. Sister May is from London but her family moved to Montreal four years ago. She has the most gorg British accent!!!! I  love imitating her all day long. Before her mission she worked with the Sisters in Montreal so training her is like a piece of cake because she basically already knows everything. It's been a lot of fun:)

Well, this week we knocked and knocked and knocked and fasted and prayed and knocked some more. And we got a lot of rejection. This has been a trial of our faith kind of week. It was pretty mentally and physically draining. The cold makes people grouchy. However, this little angel sent me a talk this week by Elder Holland called " An High Priest of Good Things to Come". Elder Holland shares this story about how when he was a young father and he tried to move his family across the country and twice in the exact same spot their car broke down and he had to walk back to Kanaarville for help. He talked about how frustrating the whole situation was. And then talks about how the experience changed  for him later.  

"Just two weeks ago this weekend, I drove by that exact spot where the freeway turnoff leads to a frontage road, just three miles or so west of Kanarraville, Utah. That same beautiful and loyal wife, my dearest friend and greatest supporter for all these years, was curled up asleep in the seat beside me. The two children in the story, and the little brother who later joined them, have long since grown up and served missions, married perfectly, and are now raising children of their own. The automobile we were driving this time was modest but very pleasant and very safe. In fact, except for me and my lovely Pat situated so peacefully at my side, nothing of that moment two weeks ago was even remotely like the distressing circumstances of three decades earlier.

Yet in my mind’s eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, with plenty of distance still ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a young father’s fear evident in his pace. In the scriptural phrase his hands did seem to “hang down.” In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”

Don't give up! The Lord will help you. He is aware of you and he love you! Even if that means you have to knock for a few hundred hours before you find that one person who says yes. He will come through and you will later see that it was all for your good. 

I hope you have a great week! Remember that I love you! Remember that you are great! 

Bisous Bisous

Sister Perkins

We heart attacked some members in our ward to lift our spirits and Grossenbach got me right on the forehead:)

Subject: Heat Wave

We are experiencing an early spring here in Quebec. It's really bizarre but for the last week it's been in the uppers. I'm so happy!!! But also scared because I feel like this means that we're in for it next week. Hopefully not. I really don't miss the blizzards. 

So we got our transfer calls on Saturday and I'm STAYING in Quebec with Sister Limburg and we're training!!! We're pretty excited to get a little greenie baby. Good times ahead. Sadly, Sister Grossenbach is leaving us for the big wide world of Montreal. Booo!

In all honesty on paper last week was not such a good one. We got dropped by nearly every single investigator we had. However, there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud...we had a lesson with our investigator Johnathan, who we hadn't seen in about three weeks. He had been working back to back shifts all holiday season long and so we weren't able to make any appointments. So we asked him how his reading is going and he said, "Well, I wasn't able to read very much in the last couple of weeks. But I read about this guy named Abinadi and he teaches these people about the 10 commandments." We looked at each other like "WHAAAT?" So much for not reading very much. Yeah he read a meager 200 pages. It was pretty amazing!

Lately I feel like I've had the attention span of a hyperactive gerbil, so I've been reading old conference Ensigns to help. And today I read this really good talk from Sister Dalton from an old young women's conference. She told a story about the son of Louis XVI "As a young man, he was kidnapped by evil men who had dethroned his father, the king. These men knew that if they could destroy him morally, he would not be heir to the throne. For six months they subjected him to every vile thing life had to offer, and yet he never yielded under pressure. This puzzled his captors, and after doing everything they could think of, they asked him why he had such great moral strength. His reply was simple. He said, “I cannot do what you ask, for I was born to be a king.”  Like the king’s son, each of you has inherited a royal birthright. Each of you has a divine heritage. “You are literally the royal daughters of our Father in Heaven.”  Each of you was born to be a queen." 

I can't imagine how different our lives would be be if we could remember the importance we hold. We are children of the most powerful and important being in the Universe. We should not let ourselves be deceived by the adversary. You are important. The child of a King. 

I pray that you have a beautiful week! Stay safe and warm! Remember to be loyal to the royal within you! I love you!!!

Bisous Bisous 

Soeur Perkins

 Sista Sabrina

 Sista Sabrina and the famous "Sister Lucy of Quebec"

Bonjour!

Oh what a glorious year it has been thus far:) I feel like the theme for this year is: crazy. So much craziness has ensued and will continue as the year continues on. But I'm so happy to be alive! I love beginnings:)So this week was funny and whacky, and as usual packed with things that are so incredibly hard, but we do it and even better with a smile. My life since the first day I arrived and since I've been here has been like unto a sitcom. I love it.

This week we visited the famous Lucy of Quebec. I really love her! She is a small package bursting with enough personality to make you wonder if she isn't the youngest 84 year old you've ever met. A few weeks ago I showed her pictures of the whole Perkins clan and I am yet to see a person who was quiet so mesmerized. She hasn't stopped talking about it. So this week she told me that she has been telling everyone she knows that she "has seen the most beautiful woman in the world." Sandra Perkins. She even told me that my father should have her painted so she can hang next to the Mona Lisa. She talked about this for a good ten minutes. I noticed that she had an "I'm cooking with George Strait" apron so I asked her if I could take a picture with her to show my daddy. She jumped out of her chair and said, "Today?! You mean that beautiful mother of yours will see this picture. Let me go put on some lipstick." So there you have it, mama your biggest fan:) 

This last week we also had a lesson with Guy. We're still not sure if he isn't a member who is just pulling our leg. Sister L and I were on splits with Sister Cantu and we had planned on teaching the Law of Chastity but last minute changes and we ended up deciding to teach Fasting since it was the first Sunday of the month. So, we start the lesson and Guy is quite disappointed because he's prepared notes from conference talks and stuff to help us better understand the Law of Chastity. So we continue with fasting and he says, "I usually fast for 36  hours, but I can fast once a month for just 2 meals." Oh gee, thanks. This man is for reals. He taught our Gospel Principles class (well basically) last week about exaltation. Oh did I mention he's only been being taught for 2 months!?  We can wait to find out what he's going to teach us this week. 

Last night we were driving to a dinner appointment and guess what????? Sister L went bonkers. Okay not really, but we thought she had. We were pulling into the parking lot by the members apartment and all of the sudden in panicked tones Sister L says, "Stop the car!!! LET ME OUT!!! I KNOW that lady!!!" And so Sister G and I look at each other like "Okie dokie, crazy pants." So she jumps out of the car and starts running after this poor little African lady, So then I jump out of the car and start chasing her while Sister G parks the car. Once I've almost caught up to her she turns around and starts walking back towards me and says, "Ooops! I guess I don't know her." I was laughing so hard because she looked like such a crazy person waving her arms and yelling at this poor lady. This is why people think Mormons are weird. 

Even though I've read this talk I don't know 27896 times I decided to read President Uchtdorf's talk "Your Happily Ever After" again this morning and as always  I found something that really stood out to me. This morning it was this:

"We all search for happiness, and we all try to find our own “happily ever after.” The truth is, God knows how to get there! And He has created a map for you; He knows the way. He is your beloved Heavenly Father, who seeks your good, your happiness. He desires with all the love of a perfect and pure Father that you reach your supernal destination. The map is available to all. It gives explicit directions of what to do and where to go to everyone who is striving to come unto Christ and “stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.”  All you have to do is trust your Heavenly Father. Trust Him enough to follow His plan."

I know this is true. I've seen work in my own life. I know our Father has a plan and even better I know it can bring us that Happily Ever After that we all search for every day. It's us that makes it complicated, but if we really stopped and listened we would understand how really simple it is.

I hope you have a great week! I truly love you and think you are amazing! Be strong and of good courage! 

All my love!

Bisous Bisous

Sister Perkins