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