Monday, February 11, 2013

 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



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