Birthday Crepe! So yummy! 

 Mr. Birthday Suit

Birthday buddies. We look like twiners too huh?:)

Bonjour! 

My birthday was beautiful and glorious and everything I could've hoped for as a missionary turning 23. I had to say goodbye to Sister Sandoval:( after a beautiful crepe breakfast and later had a silly lunch with Sister Hill my Birthday buddy (We were born in the same year too!)  and ended the day with a lesson with Nicole and Pierre. Also, I got to see Elder Leon who is basically my brother so that was really great. It was pretty funny, he just had his birthday last month and so he was telling me how this member bought him the suit he was wearing. He said, "It's my birthday suit!" The best part was that he said it with a straight face and didn't realize what he said until I started laughing. Birthday suit. That is apostate! Super funny! Gotta love transfer birthday day. So. Good. Also, I'm a terrible Sister-in-Law.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORTNEY! Sorry that I have the brain of a chicken and forget everything! I hope your day was as interesting as mine. Hopefully you got a new birthday suit like Elder Leon;) So funny!

On Thursday we had our first lesson with Sylvain( our paraplegic investigator) and Sister C. It was a really great lesson at the park next to his house.  At the end he offered to give the prayer and Sister C and I could barely hear him. So at one point we both thought we heard him say "Amen." So then in unison we both said, "Amen." But then we realized that he was still praying. So feeling like idiots we kept listening. After we walked away Sister C said, "Remember how we turned into Pentecostals during that prayer?" It was pretty funny. AMEN!

This week the Lord gave us a whole lot of miracles. We found this man through a less active family who just moved here from Paris. Is that confusing. Sorry. English is hard now. Anyway, so we were watching the Testaments with this family and then we realized that this guy walked in right at the end when the Savior comes. At the end of the lesson we asked him if he wanted a BOM and he was super excited. He also told us that he's going to come to church with us. So cool! This is just one of many miracles we saw this week. OH! Another miracle would be my French has improved significantly. I'm so grateful for that. Please, keep praying for my French! Merci!

I gave myself chills typing the title of this email. One year. Holy Hannah Banana! Where did the time go? I still feel like a little greenie baby. It's a pretty surreal feeling. I've been thinking back on everything I've experienced and everything in the past year that I've learned and it just makes me so grateful. I'm so so so grateful that I did this. I didn't want to. But the Lord told me to. I can't exactly say what finally pushed me to just come. I guess if I'm honest it was the hope that I could change. I've changed a lot. It many ways. I still think I'm really funny, I still dance around the house, I still laugh at my own jokes, I still eat really weird things, I still find joy is crunching leaves, I still love Tiffany Blue and salty snacks. But even with everything I still am, I'm different somehow. 

I remember the first day that I realized I was changing. My companion and I were in a lesson with this man named Justin. He was a lawyer and atheist. But he wanted to know why we believed what we did and how. I remember teaching the plan of Salvation just like I had done for the past four months and then all at once I felt like something clicked. It wasn't just some nice story we told people but this plan was real. This really was the way, not just to live a better life or to make peace with where we came from, but to be saved. It struck me so hard that I felt like this broken piece of my heart shifted and it didn't matter what had happened before because this was true. People always say that you don't come on a mission to get a testimony, but it just happens. At leas for me. I remember the day I realized the resurrection was real. This is a real thing. It's really going to happen. I felt so much gratitude as I realized this is a manifestation of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. Every time I read Alma 11:44 I get chills just thinking about it "44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil." I cried as I read it knowing that he loves us this much. So much more than we will ever know. 

I remember the first time I cried because we had to drop a non-progressing investigator. I remember the pain of saying "Good-bye" to my family in Ottawa, to my home, to my Dows Lake. I remember the indescribable joy I felt when Jeffrey was baptized by William. I remember the way I couldn't stop laughing everytime I was in the care with Sister C. I remember the fear that struck in my heart when I flushed my phone down the toilet. I remember trying so hard no to laugh at Ramon in Zarahemla and the Sisters giving me "the look" to keep it together. Of all of these things that I've experienced I will never be able to forget the change that i've seen in me. I'll never be able to thank the Lord for who he has made of me in these short 12 months. I couldn't ask for more, but I can't wait to see what the next 6 months brings.

Sorry this email was kind of nerdy. But I've become really nostalgic in my old age. Life is crazy. But oh so good. I love my calling as a missionary. I love that I have six more months of this. I love you! 

Have a beautiful week!

Bisous Bisous

Sister Perkins

 SWARMA! My new love. I love, love, love Lebanese food!

 Organic ice cream. This was a foodie dream of a P-day!

 Old Montreal, it's kind of like being in Europe:)

Bonjour! 

I can't believe I'm getting older. How did that happen? I was supposed to stay 19 forever. In my head I'm still 19. I think nearly a year of being around 19 year old boys will do that to you. Actually they are very kind. My district leader is planning a birthday fete for me this Thursday for our District study. And my birthday is going to be a very interesting day because it's transfers AGAIN! Crazy, huh? six weeks is like nothing in the mission. So, it will be sad and happy. Sad because Sister Sandoval is going home, but happy because drum roll.......I will be companions with SISTER CHADBURN again! It's like the Lord gave me a big birthday present. I'm pretty excited:) I love that little coconut head. I've decided that I'm going to go knocking and tell everyone we knock into that it's my birthday.....guilt is the second best tool for conversion. The spirit is the first. I'm also going to run around and yell "C'EST MA FETE!" This is probably only funny if your name is Lindy Pace and you were one of the people at Oula's birthday party. Best birthday EVERRRRR!

So last week was kind of like BLAH! Which is okay, because that's life. So let me tell you about it;) It was a rough one. We were supposed to have a baptism....but then an hour before the mother of our investigator said it was a no go. We were crushed, but more than us SHE was crushed. It was pretty devestating to see her like that. But she promised us that as soon as she gets the green light she's going to get baptized. So not the weekend we had planned, but hey c'est la vie. 

We're teaching this less active members daughter and her best friend (they are 11) and they're pretty much amazing. The last time we were there we watched the Restoration DVD and they both said that they wanted their own BOM. We went back yesterday and they had both read and watched the Restoration film "like 8 or 9 times". Crazy, crazy. Especially because that movie is only like 20 minutes long. I'm really excited to see what the Lord has in store for our area this transfer:)

In other news fall is coming!!! I'm so excited! Fall is beautiful here! I like to walk through the leaves and hear the leaves crunching. I love that you can almost smell fall when you walk outside in the morning. It's so beautiful! I've been collecting leaves like some crazy person. They're just so stinking beautiful! I'm a sucker for this place.

This week we visited this really beautiful sister in our ward. She's an RM and the mother of a beautiful little boy. I love talking to her. This week we talked about beauty and the miracles we've seen. It made me so grateful. A year ago I was really not the same person (you'll probably hear me say that a lot now). I feel like this change has taken place in me and I just love things differently. I love me more. That's been a hard process for me. But I can honestly say I've learned that lesson on my mission. When I was talking to this Sister I shared an experience I haven't told anyone until well Sister Chadburn. There was a time before my mission when I doubted a lot of things, myself, my beliefs, my life. I didn't get it. I let other bad experiences make me go bitter. But I found a ray of sunshine in my day through a talk given by Elder Uchtdorf (I think I quote him every email now), but this talk literally saved me from spriritual ruin. It's a talk called "Your Happily Ever After". I remember listening to this talk nearly every day for months. I actually had parts memorized, but it gave me hope. His words helped me overcome the things that I couldn't say.  And helped me hope for my happily ever after. This quote in particular helped me feel peace,

“You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose.” Sisters, those words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Isn’t it remarkable to know that our eternal Heavenly Father knows you, hears you, watches over you, and loves you with an infinite love? In fact, His love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of “once upon a time,” complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all—eternal life—and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own “happily ever after.”

Yes. I am getting older. But I do know that it's going to be a great year. I can feel it. I know that there is an amazing year a head of me. Yes. there will be hard days and weeks, but I just can't help but hope that it will all be happy in the end. Thank you for your wishes! Thank you for your love! Thank you for being a part of my life. I'm so glad that you exist! 23 never sounded so sweet:) C'EST MA FETE!

Bisous Bisous! 

Sister Perkins

 This is our family Christmas card photo with Pierre and Nicole:)

This is Sister S after I turned her into a tree. So the Elders stole our antenna off of our car. They actually held it hostage until we gave them cookies. So this is us after we got it. I felt like Harry Potter, but I look more like Bellatrix. I know what I'm going to be for Halloween:)

  "Je vais chanter avec mes filles!"

This summer I've developed a penchant for frozen water. I'm addicted to frozen water bottles and now Sister S is too. We look like drunks.

Hello everyone! 

How are you all doing? I'm doing pretty good. I'm happy and healthy and can't wait for this new month. I can just feel it in my bones...It's going to be a miracle month! 

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUKEY!  I'm so happy that you are my brother and that with out fail you always have a good song about peanut butter and jelly, or putting on pajamas. I'm so happy that you're a part of our family! Eat lots of pie, because I know you don't really like cake:)

So this week we had a really funny lesson with this girl named Sabrina. MY NAME! It's so weird calling someone my name. But anyway she's a little crazy, but she has a sincere desire to learn. She's one of those people who has had a really rough life. She's lived in really sketchy situations and just needs some love. We had a crazy lesson that was kind of all over the place and at the end of the lesson I asked if there was anything we could do for her and she said, "Hmmm. GROUP HUG!" It was like the funniest thing I've ever had anyone say when I ask that. People usually just say "No." It made me laugh:)

We also had a really great lesson with Nicole and Pierre. It was soooo cool! We taught her about the importance of prayer and how we receive answers to our prayers. The cool thing about this lesson was that both Sister Sandoval and I could understand everything! The spirit was really strong and she was so excited to pray. She actually prayed at the end. It was so amazing! Teaching in sign has been cool because we totally have to rely on the spirit. It's amazing!

On Saturday we did a lot of visits and pass-bys I would like to write about two in particular that I'm still laughing about.

Experience number 1: About a week and a half ago we met this guy who owned a dry cleaning shop. The circumstances in which we met him included me needing to use the bathroom and the fact that he had one. The bathroom experience was probably the scariest one I've ever had, but that's not the purpose of this story. So anyway we went back to teach him this week and after about a 45 minute rant on his part about how the Bible is like a Sunset and we can each interpret it how we want, we tried to pray with him. Which took another 15 minutes. He talked and talked forever about how we needed to be women of faith so finally I just say, "How about I say the prayer?" And he was like, "Yeah, Sister, pray for me." So, I start praying, but then I was confused because he started praying too. Really LOUD. Like over my prayer. I actually laughed for a little while and he didn't even notice because he was so involved in his prayer. It was hysterical. My companion said she bit her lip the whole time to keep from laughing. 

Experience number 2: We've been visiting this cute little single mom and her 5 yr old son. He is stinking cute and he loves us a lot. Well, when we visited them they had just gotten back from buying his new backpack for school (it's blowing my mind that school has started again).  His mom asked him to go get her scripture and he said, "Je vais chanter avec mes filles" (translation: I'm gonna sing with ma girls!" It was so hysterical! Then he wanted to say the prayer and he said, "God, bless my girls, Chris and Chris." I guess he saw Christ on our tags and assumed our names were both Chris. It was so funny. And then he danced for us. Best visit ever!

This week is going to be awesome because we are going to be having a BAPTISM! Her name is Manntara, she is 14 yrs old and she is the only member in her family interested in the church. It's actually pretty crazy because her whole family was being taught, but she was the only one who continued to learn when we took over for the Elders. She's amazing! Every Sunday she travels an hour by bus and 20 minutes by metro to get to church. The other day we were going through the baptismal questions and she told us that she knows it's going to be hard to be the only member, but she knows it's true. Please pray for her. Oh I love baptisms!

This week was a big learning week for me. I learned a lot about love. Real love. Charity. I feel like I'm good at loving, but less good at the charity part. The love in action part. So, after a really great talk with President Cannon, I've been studying the application part. Oh I have miles to go, but one thing I've realized this week is that, hope is a major part of charity. You can't really love someone if you don't have hope for them. We love our investigators so much that our hope helps them to change. I've been thinking a lot about hope and as  always it goes back to the Atonement. We have hope because of the Atonement. I really love this quote by Elder Uchtdorf "Hope is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls." We can't lose hope. Not for ourselves, not for those we love. Remember to show love:) Life is so much sweeter when you do!

I hope you have a grand week! I hope you laugh a lot. I hope you sing out loud and eat tasty end of summer treats! Enjoy because Adam fell that we might feel Joy! 

Bisous Bisous

Sister Perkins

 one time I was so hungry I actually ate McDonalds. My body was really mad at me later. I'm so grateful for Papaya Enzymes:)

Saw this outside of the Pentecostal church. I just thought it was too good to be true:)

Rainy days in Montreal. This is my THIRD umbrella. And it broke that same day. I really don't know why I have problems.

Hello Family and Friends! 

How is everyone?! Can you believe we're almost into SEPTEMBER! How is this happening?! I can't keep up with the calendar pages.  However, I'm pretty excited to experience my very first Canadian Autumn! I've heard it's absolutely gorgeous. I. Can't. Wait. 

This week was pretty crazy...as usual. So, I guess it was normal?:) It was a great week. Let's see....we've been working with this amazing family that we met at English class and it's been incredible! It's a single mom and her three kids. The oldest is 20, Chloe and the two younger ones are 16, Cassandra and 15, Chad. On Friday we had this really spiritual lesson about prophets and how we taught them about President Monson. They loved it:) Then on Saturday Chole pretty much spent the whole day with us. We went to a baptism on the west side of IDM. It's about an hour on metro so we had a lot of time to talk. Then at the baptism, she kept asking things about it and if she could have a baptism just like the one we were at. That night their family invited us to a party at their church. This was my first experience at a Pentecostal church. It was pretty interesting to say the least. We kept crossing our fingers for a healing or something legitly Pentecostal. No dice. But it was quite interesting. Everyone avoided us like the plague. The name tag scares so many people:) 

On Saturday we knocked into this Muslim woman. Muslims are either really kind and want to convert you or really grouchy and want you to leave. This particular woman was neither. She actually just wanted to ask questions about our culture. She showed us her prayer mat and robe and explained things like arranged marriages and the way they view woman in their culture. It was a really incredible conversation.It made me really wish that we could always be that open. There was this mutual desire to really understand each other. It was a beautiful thing and maybe it really helped me get over some old grudges:) 

This area has really been interesting we've been able to work with a lot of really cool less active families. I love these families! Sometimes on the mission you worry that perhaps you'll never be able to love your last peeps as much as your new ones and then this funny thing happens and your heart expands in crazy ways. I love this area a lot. There is something about these families. I met this amazing sister who is battling cancer. We are like kindred friends. She loves almond butter and yoga as much as I do. Every time I see her I just feel like I'm with an old friend. There is another family that is very, very less active, but they love us. They know they need what we have, because they've had it before. Last night we spent some time with the Elders quorum president and his family. They thought I was like a celebrity because I was from Utah. It was pretty funny! They wanted to see ma ville so they google earthed everything in STG. They thought it looked so amazing! It made me smile. 

This week I've done a lot of praying. Praying to speak French. Praying to understand. Praying to feel the strength to give my all. I feel like I've spent a lot of my life trying to get to a destination, not really enjoying the journey. Bad, bad, bad. So I was thinking about this process of learning. I love to learn. I forget that a lot. But what I've really learned is that the Lord gives us what we need when we need it. My French is improving. I know that. Every now in then I get these little glimpses where I just speak. It's pretty crazy. And sometimes I understand those really thick Quebecoise accents and my heart leaps for joy. And those days where I'm too exhausted to stand the Lord gives me strength to knock on one more door. This quote from President Uchtdorf better sums up what I'm trying to say, "Guided by the Holy Spirit, we will learn from our mistakes. If we stumble, we will rise. If we falter, we will go on. We will never waver, we will never give up." I have a testimony of this. We have this amazing gift to have a third member of Diety with us at all times. We can never truly be lost if we are living worthy of that companionship.

This was a beautiful week: I had fish tacos, knocked into a woman with my same name!, received the most gorgeous letter in the mail from someone in Paris, ate my first Timbit, hallelujahed at a pentecostal church and otherwise was just happy to be here. Have a beautiful week! Enjoy! Read your scriptures! Say your prayers! Remember I love you!

Bisous Bisous!

Sister Perkins

 The break-up picture:)

He said he would wait for me. I'm considering it:)

 Baby Noella, Congrats Jaclyn & Cort and Abuelo y Abuela

What a cute little bundle, Miracles while I'm in the Mission!!

Hello everyone...including baby Noella!!!!!! 

Yay! New baby! So exciting! I hope everyone is happy and healthy. I'm happy and healthy and working up a storm here in Hochelaga. Crazy, crazy. But oh so good. This week has been weird and crazy and as always I feel like the Lord helped me grow in ways I didn't know were possible. 

Let's see on Wednesday we had Zone Conference and we were lucky enough to merge with the same zone as Sister Chadburn and Elder Leon. I was so excited to see them...I may have jumped up and down when I saw them. It was soooooo good. I felt like we were having a Alma the younger and sons of Mosiah moment. I just love them so much. Elder Leon is the best mission brother a Sista could ever ask for. And as for Sister C, oh man could anyone be more of my twin? I miss them both a lot, but it's always good to know that I still have family here in the CMM especially since the past few months I lost a lot of my family. It's not fair that people just up and leave us. Not cool. Zone Conference was good! President taught us about listening to the spirit and being sensitive to the needs of our investigators. It was a pretty epic training! 

On Wednesday evening I got a phone call from the bishop because he wanted me (just me) to give a talk in sacrament. This normally wouldn't feel like a crisis, but it did in this moment because I can't really speak French. So I prayed really hard that night. The next morning I started my talk and I was surprised to find that I could write it pretty easily. But once I finished it I wondered if maybe I just thought it sounded good, because I wrote it:) So I made my companion read it and correct it for me. She only had to correct a couple of grammatical errors, but for the most part she said it was good. Then Sunday came and I was soooooo nervous! I was actually trembling all through sacrament and then suddenly they said my name. And before I knew it I was sitting down again. From the feedback I got it was good. I'm telling you this not to brag about my fluency...still not fluent. But to tell you that the gift of tongues is REAL!  There is no other way that I would've been able to give a ten minute talk in French, but the Lord helped me. 

Thursday we had our infamous cours d'anglais. I love English class. It's pretty much my favorite time of the day on Thursdays. It's like a comedy every week. This week we were learning about words that sound similar. So we asked the class to tell us words that sounds similar and people kept saying things like "Feel and Feet". I guess they sound similar but whateves. The cool thing that happened from English class this week was that we actually found an investigator and her two daughters! We had a really cool lesson with them on Friday and they certainly felt the spirit! It was really cool. 

So, sometimes our investigators are confused as to why we are coming to visit them.....we learned that lesson again this week. Sister Sandoval and I found this investigator named Abdilal about two weeks ago. He's from Egypt and has only been living here in Canada for only about a month.We found out he was actually Muslim around our second visit and he swore up and down that he wasn't practicing.....but then he committed us to find out if Islam was the true religion. And we were like "HEY! Hold the phone!!! WE are the missionaries." So yesterday we decided it was time to "Frank" him (translation: figure out if he really wants to learn or not). Well, before we could even "Frank" him, he "Franked" us. Talk about taking the wind out of our sails. He was like, "If we're going to be friends we can't just talk about religion all of the time. Let's go somewhere." My companion and I looked at each other like "huh?" He saw the concern and said, "I thought we were friends." We tried to explain our purpose, but he wasn't buying it. Finally, we told him we can't be friends in the traditional sense, but we're friends in the gospel. He didn't like that either. He acted like we were breaking up. It was weird. And then we gave him our "facebook emails" and he was like, "Well I don't have time to look people up on Facebook. I'm too busy." So I said, "Whoa! You don't even have time for your friends." I couldn't resist. He was giving us so much grief for not being able to be friends but he couldn't even try to find us on facebook....okay so maybe I gave him a fake email anyway, but still. Okay, maybe I'm a little bitter that he kept taking the missionary role. That's MY role. 

This week I studied a lot about faith. Faith in general. Our faith. Developing faith. Preserving faith. Just faith. It was really neat and made me realize that faith isn't something we have and then never need to work on again, but it's daily, hourly, minute by minute. And it really made me yearn to be more faithful. To my friends, To my family. To my beliefs. But one quote that really hit me that I found by C.S. Lewis says, "Christianity if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." It's true right? This is either true or it's not. Which means we cannot be moderately dedicated, we have to be  completely dedicated. If you don't know if this is true, I would exhort you to try. Try it out. Either is true or not. But the only way to find out is through study and prayer. Try, try, try:)

I hope your week is amazing! I hope that you are healthy and happy! Remember that I love you! 

Love,

Sister Perkins

P.s. sorry this is scattered there are five million people around me talking really loud:)

True love=Law of Chastity. So many people stopped to try and figure out what we were doing when we took this picture.

Tulips, from the lovely Ottawa Tulip Festival. 

Hello everyone! 

This week was a rainy one here in Montreal. It rained and rained and rained. I loved it! There's nothing quite like rain in Montreal. Beautiful! this week was really incredible! We had some really drastic lows and highs but overall it was amazing! I think that's the crazy thing about being on a mission you experience all sorts of extremes in one day. It's weird, but so normal at the same time. 

This week we had another lesson with Nicole. There is a member in our ward named Frere Cantin and he is also deaf, but is really good at reading lips. But I just want to explain the process that takes place during our lessons with Frere Cantin and Nicole. So, first we teach a principle in French and then Pierre translate to Nicole and then we translate what Nicole says and then we try to make sense of it in English. Last time it got kind of confusing. It's kind of like playing charades because the other day we were teaching prayer and he ended up translating Nicole's response which was surprisingly about Hilter and WWII. Confusing, right? The cool thing about these lessons is that the spirit is always super strong because no one is actually speaking. It's pretty incredible! the crazy thing afterwards is that I feel like I can't talk to anyone because I get so used to trying to use my hands to communicate. I love sign language!

The other night we were walking to a lesson and I noticed this really cute Haitian granny gardening. So, I stopped and started talking to her. At first she seemed a little skeptical and then once we started talking about our purpose and then suddenly she was really open and warm. She invited us to come into her backyard to talk a little bit more and pray with her. I absolutely fell in love with her garden and started smelling all of the herbs. She thought I was cute so she started cutting big bunches and gave them to us to take home. I was so happy! We prayed with her and set up a time to come back and then started on our way to the next lesson. All the while I was holding the big bunch of basil and mint and I felt like a disney princess. Yes. That Anne-of-Green-Gables-whimsy is still very much a part of me. Oh it was lovely! And oh how I miss herb gardens! 

Yesterday we had the infamous ward choir! Oh my goodness. It's somehow gotten worse...or maybe it's better and I'm worse. Who knows. We started singing and after about 3 rounds of Silent Night I was pretty darn certain that I was singing like them. And then I tried just focusing on my voice, but the problem was that I couldn't hear my own voice. So then by about round 6 I gave up singing all together and just mouthed the words. I would love to record it, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't appreciate it. Siiiiiileeeeennt NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIght. 

This week I've been thinking a lot about light. Light fascinates me. I love all kinds of light.There is something so warm and inviting about light. One time in my floral design class at BYU I learned about how light affects tulips and how they naturally gravitate towards and follow light which causes them to bend at the stem. I realized that there have been times when I'm more like a tulip and I really do gravitate towards light. I allow myself to be washed over in it and nothing seems to get me down. But there are other times when I let too much darkness into my life and it's so hard to find my light again. But light gives us peace and stability. Or like Tulips it gives us direction and life. There's a talk from this last conference Ensign by Sister Dalton and she talks about how she realized one day in the Reno temple that the Lord's light is like a chandelier: He is the giant light source and we are the tiny crystals that reflect His light. Isn't that beautiful?! We are His tiny crystals here to reflect His perfect love and light. D&C 50:24 says, " That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." That perfect day can be everyday, we just have to draw closer to Him and in return we can be full of His light.. and that is something following.

I hope your week is lovely. Enjoy the last bits of summer, because FALL is on it's way! Oh I'm so excited! But I will try to enjoy these last few summer storms. And gathering plenty of sunshine for those dreary winter days.

Bisous Bisous!

 So I'm closing my eyes in the picture I took with Elder Meza, so I decided to put the picture of when I said bye to Ottawa. Classic of our friendship. 

Awkward Elder Dalton Sister Perkins photo.

 Don't judge us. We both started crying as soon as we saw each other. Then we thought it would be a good idea to take a picture. Elder Smedley: "So my eyes are red and blotchy." Sister Perkins: "Yeah. But it probably won't matter." After the picture looking at it on my camera. Elder Smedley: "We look depressed. No. We look we're pretending to be happy. Like a funeral picture." 

This is us trying to look way happier than we feel. So. Sad.

Howdy Ho Ranger Joe!

How is everyone doing? It's sounds like your battling colds, waiting for babies, and enjoying the last little bits of summer. Summer here has been hot, hot, hot! Except for yesterday we had Noah's Ark style rain and it cooled off about 15 degrees. Beautiful! 

Last week was crazy! I feel like the insanity never stops. It just keeps going and going. I like it sometimes, but other times by head won't stop spinning. Last Wednesday was one of the saddest days I've had on my mission. I said good-bye to some of my most favorite missionaries(Elder Meza-my best friend, Elder Smedley-my sunshine, and Elder Dalton- my Dows Lake lifesaver):( Boo! Those missionaries had a profound effect on my mission and saying good bye was so much more heartbreaking than I ever thought it could be. No one ever warned me of how easy it is to fall in love with the people you meet on your mission. The CMM will never be the same with out them. Oh boo! Now I'm sad again. 

So, the new area is great! I'm loving it. Really. I feel like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. And my French isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was, though it's not really that great, but hey! I'm trying to be positive:) We have an investigator here named Sylvain, (he was actually found by my trainer, Sister Pace).Sylvain is really cool, he's paralyzed but has a really great outlook on life.Teaching him is really cool especially because he has a super strong Quebec accent. But the other day we had a lesson with him in the park and he said, "Will you sing for me before we end the lesson?" My companion said, "no", but I'm pretty much a sucker for all of my investigators, so Sylvain and I belted "Did you think to pray?". We had a few people stop and listen. I felt pretty cool:) We also taught our investigator Nicole who is deaf. It's amazing! You can feel the spirit in those lessons because it's so silent. I. Love. It! This area is already so very dear to my heart. 

Yesterday we went to church for the first time. I love the ward! Sadly about 80% of our ward is less active, so they really need us.Most of our ward is also Haitian, which is basically heaven. And they make us feel like they need us! Yesterday we were walking out of relief society and the ward chorister said, "Sisters please come to ward choir!" I'm a sucker for these people, right? So off we went. We got to choir and it was me, Sister Sandoval, the chorister, and three others sisters:) Sweet Choir, dude! So they're learning Silent Night in English for their Christmas program and so basically I would sing solo for a few lines and then they would all follow me. The problem was none of them could sing the part that says "round yon virgin mother and child". Instead they would sing "Ron yawn weergeen, muder and chile." And one point I was actually laughing at them because I kept thinking of that part on The Christmas Story when they go to the Chinese restaurant and the waiters are trying to sing Deck the Halls. I know I'm so mean, but really my life is like a sitcom. I. Love. It. 

This week I was studying in the Book of Mosiah during King Benjamin's speech and at one point he's preaching about the coming of the Messiah and while I was reading verse 5 of Chapter 3 where is says. "For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases." It made me think about my sweet investigators with their own struggles some more apparent than others, and it really hit me that although we can't help Sylvain to walk or help Nicole to hear, we can help them and many others in a spiritual sense. Because what we can give to them spiritually can help them overcome their physical weaknesses. I don't know if that really makes sense. Maybe it was way more profound in my studies, but it just made me realize that no matter what the Lord is in all things. 

I hope your week is grand! Count your blessings! Eat your veggies! Scatter Sunshine! Remember I love you!

Bisous Bisous!

Soeur Perkins