Letter #67

30 November 2015

Dear Everybody,

How's it? Doing good here. Getting darker and getting colder but that's Canada.

So, this week had some exciting highlights, but the rest not super interesting. . . 

We were able to have a great lesson with Johanne, our most progressing investigator at the moment, at the Library with Sister Kelley, one the best member missionaries out there. We went over a little bit about the Book of Mormon and recognizing the Holy Ghost. Johanne really wants to get baptized. She feels that it's the right thing to do and we are so excited for her. Later that night we went to Sister Kelley's house for supper. It was CRAZY! We just love playing with her 5 boys. They are so fun and full of energy (they're all under the age of 12) and I must have "died" at least a dozen times from zombies, fire, magic, nerf guns, and bortsch (a common Russian dish. Don't ask how it came to be).

Thursday we were able to do some service for Margaret and then return later for supper. Our original plan for Thanksgiving was to make a chicken (the turkeys were too big for the 3 of us) and get all the stuff for a classic Thanksgiving supper (potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, stuffing, and pumpkin pie and rolls). But we were happy to have a nice dinner with Margaret and her 2 kids and their roommate Johanne (investigators). Actually, it had been Mireille's (oldest girl of Margaret) birthday, and so we half celebrated that. Tuesday we had stopped by with a plate of cupcakes and a birthday card for her, but she wasn't there, so we left it with Johanne. The problem was that Margaret's mother was there. Let's just say she is does not share our beliefs and didn't really approve of us. We got a text the next day that asked us to remake the card and I was like, "Oh no, what did she do?!" We found out Thursdaybefore dinner that Margaret's mother had thrown away the cupcakes and the card before Margaret, Mireille, and Philippe got home. I was a little disappointed, but I made sure to make the 2nd card even better and, looking back, I just think of how silly the whole situation was. And then on Friday we made our thanksgiving dinner.

The next exciting thing was on Saturday night, I believe. We had just gotten home and Elder Pryor was sitting in his chair. For some reason, Elder Sorensen decided to start throwing a volleyball at Elder Pryor's knees. Every time, the ball would ricochet off his knees and back to his hands and he would say, "Yes, again!" And throw the ball again. Then, about the 3rd or 4th time, the ball went a little higher, hit Elder Sorensen in the face, and bounced onto his table with all his study material and knocked half of it off. It was perfectly. . . hilarious. We all were dying on the floor and my chest hurt from laughing so hard. It had been a while since I had laughed like that and It was just too perfect to be true. Yay for the 3 stooges.

The last thing I'd like to mention is this year's Christmas Initiative. #ASaviorIsBorn. I felt the spirit so strong the first time I saw it and again when we showed it to our ward. This is so amazing and I'm super excited to use it. Truly this is inspired work. The invitation at the end is for everyone: Discover Why. Why is it so important that a Savior was born? Really think and ponder why it is so important to have our Savior. Study and discover what you can do help your testimony grow as well as the testimony of those around you. I pray for you and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season. It's only beginning!

Elder Perkes

Alma 26:12 Yea, I know that I am nothing ; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things ; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Latest pictures...November 2015

One of Tanner's Companions - Elder Pryor (doing service)

 Making dinner...

Not really sure about this one...

Having two companions in a small apartment.

 Second companion - Elder Sorensen

These year's Christmas Tree..."The Beginning"

 Hawkesbury Chapel

 Elders Hernandez, Shumway, me, and Smith on Saint Denis

 Nicholas and me playing hockey.

 Hawkesbury Chapel

Bandanas are too much fun!

We are bad blog updaters :-) Letters #55-#66

#66 23 November 2015

Hello-Bonjour!

How's everybody doing? Good, I hope.

This week hasn't been super eventful, but we did do some good work. Tuesday we had our Zone Training meeting and our interviews with President. We talked a lot on things we could work with teaching and stuff. Everyone was also having interviews for their temple dedication recommends, so our actual interviews took a little bit. But it was fun talking to some other missionaries that I hadn't seen in a while.

So, through the week we've been seeing our investigators and they seem to be doing pretty well.

Johanne: She is a single mother with 3 daughters, but only 1 lives with her. She wants to be baptized as soon as possible and she was hoping that she could before Elder Pryor left, but we're not sure if that would be possible. She seems to be getting busier and busier. But we are helping her and she has a real desire to do what the Lord wants her to do.

Ashley: Ashley is a single guy who lives in a group home. He's trying to get his life in order and has a strong desire to be baptized. He's working on quitting smoking and drinking coffee, but the biggest problem is that he lives an hour away from the church and anybody else who could give him a ride. So it is difficult for him to come to church, but we are helping him with what he can do.

Friday we were able to go to a birthday party for one of our members. He was turning 12 and is autistic, but he is super funny. We love to play around with him and his party was Jurassic World themed. It was super fun to eat with them and talk and pretend like we were watching dinosaurs. And he LOVES Legos! So we brought a little gift for him.

Probably the most exciting part of the week was the Temple Cultural Celebration and Re-dedication. It had dances from all sorts of different cultures that make up Montreal and I even saw some youth from my previous areas. It was super fun to watch. Then, Sunday morning, we were able to watch President Eyring give the dedicatory prayer. I just love the temple and I'm super excited to be able to go back soon! We have a few people in our ward who are preparing to get their endowments, and we're so excited for them. The Temple is just amazing.

Lastly, my ponderizing scripture of the week:

D&C 112:10: Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

Heavenly Father speaks to the humble, those who will follow His words. If we become meek and teachable, He will guide us where we need to go.

Love you all!

Elder Perkes

#65 16 November 2015

Well, this week has been pretty good. In preparation for our new companion, we had to do a TON of cleaning this last p-day. We filled up our garbage can with junk and rearranged our apartment some to make it more suitable for 3. Elder Sorensen still has to study on the couch with a little table, but it's better than nothing.

After picking Elder Soresen up from the Mission office we went to the temple open house with Chad and Mike, 2 recent converts who are planning on going to the temple for the 1st time when it reopens. It was SO great and I even saw a bunch of people from my previous areas! Even from Saint Jean! It's been over a year since I've seen some of these people! And the temple is wonderful! It was renovated due to some mold and foundation troubles, so they basically redid the whole thing. It used to be one the basic small temples they have all over, but now it has some Montreal flavor to it, implicating the 4 different flowers of Montreal's founders all over. The English Rose, the French Fleur-de-Lis, the Scottish Thistle, and the Irish Shamrock. It was beautiful! Shout out to Sister Ashcroft from my homeward who helped with the mural. It's amazing the artwork and decor that it is put into the temple. Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a wonderful place. Only the best for the Lord!

So, a little about Elder Sorensen. He's from a small town in southwest Oregon, is a huge fan of Star Wars, and is overall a pretty fun guy. We've been getting along well these past few days, so I'm sure there won't be much to worry about.

On Friday we were able to go to the temple AGAIN with one our investigators, her 2 kids, and their friend/roommate. (Margaret, Mireille, Philippe, and Johanne) They seemed to really like it and had lots of questions about the temple and the church. The temple just got even better the 2nd time we saw it! I just love to the see the temple.

Saturday and Sunday was our Stake Conference. Elder Milan F. Kunz, a Seveny, came. It was wonderful conference all about the Work of Salvation and Ward/Family Councils. I was inspired to work more with the members and to just be better. Elder Kunz even did a couple role plays with the members, which was surprising but super fun!

The final thing is that last night we got a super weird message from a random number from a man who said something like: "Hello Elders, this is Jeeeaaaan Geeeay [elongated name. . . suspicious]. I have a friend who is Mormon Polygamist and I want to join your church because I like a lot of. . .another woman. Please call me back this is urgent. Thanks." I could totally tell it was some fake accent, but I was little worried if it was some weirdo I didn't know. So I called back, played along with it, but as soon as he started talking some more I could tell it was Guillermo Lemus from Hochelaga! He had called to thank me for a letter I had written him to say that he is leaving tomorrow to go on his mission to LA. I'm so excited for him and I know that California is going to receive a great missionary.

Final thoughts for the week:

Sense of the Sacred by D. Todd Christofferson. It's a wonderful talk and I recommend that everyone read it.

This week I'm ponderizing Moroni 7:33 "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Perkes

#64 9 November 2015

Sorry, super short letter this week. I'll do better next week.

Probably the most exciting news this week is that we got our transfer calls. We had expected us both to stay here in Hawkesbury, which is exactly what happened. What we didn't expect was that we will now be in a trio! The missionary that will be with us is an Elder Sorenson (not sure how it's spelled). So we've been cleaning and preparing for him almost all p-day. So now we'll have a small army of Elders at all times. It should be fun in our small apartment. The next most exciting thing is that we've been having to feed our investigator's cats every day this week because she was sick with double pneumonia. She has 5. It's been an adventure. But we've had fun. The third most exciting and the most frightening experience of the week happened yesterday night. We had stopped by the chapel to do some business stuffs on the the computers. We entered the chapel and I was opening the door to the clerk's office. Just as I got the door unlocked a super loud, bone cracking, ear-drum popping, booger blowing, tear inducing, socks knock-offing, heart stopping BRRAAAP! went off. Imagine your annoying alarm clock hooked up to the speaker system at a college football stadium that goes off to scare away rhinos. I might be exaggerating, but that's what it felt like to me. I thought that we had not turned off the alarm properly and that we were going to be shot down by a tactical missile. Turns out that it was just my companion seeing if this certain button had the same sound as our doorbell. Let's just say it took me a good 5 minutes for me to breathe again and another 20 minutes of adorable Mormon commercials (Homefront videos on lds.org. They're wonderful) to get my heart out of my stomach and my brain right-side-up. Good job companion. You've done it again.

To end it off spiritually D&C 108:7 "Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all yourprayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings."

Elder Perkes

#63  2 November 2015

This week has been pretty. . . Uneventful. Johanne was in Utah and she came back on Monday. She seemed to enjoy it but she's still not sure on baptism. We're working on that. Tuesday we did some service at the food bank which is always fun. Stacking shelves and helping people. 

Probably the most exciting thing this week was when Elder Pryor scared the beejeebeez out of me. One night I walk out of the bathroom and Elder Pryor asks me to change the alarm on the phone. So, I walk over and open up our phone and I notice a message that says it's from Pres. Patrick. Every time I get a call or text from the APs or President my heart starts beating in my ears. So I look at the phone and it says, "Elder Perkes, we'll speak further of this but just so you are prepared you are being transferred next Wednesday to Ottawa." In my head I was like, WHAT THE JUNK?!? So I run over to Elder Pryor almost yelling at him, "Did you see this? Did you see this?" I send back an "Ok" without really knowing what else to say. But then the 'ok' came straight back to my phone and I know my face turned bright red. Elder Pryor had sent the message to our own phone then saved our own number as "Pres. Patrick". I then proceeded to punch his arm and kick his shins several times. I was just so hyped up in the moment that I didn't sit down and think logically like: Why would President send this over text? Wouldn't it be the APs call me? I've only been here for 5 weeks! Why would he send this on a Wednesday? And other things similar. So, he got me good.

Not much other than that. We bought pumpkins that we haven't carved yet and I think I saw 3 trick-or-treaters on Saturday. Hawkesbury is not a very Halloweener town.

That's about it for this week. For Ponderizing this week I have Alma 5:26 "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" I hope you can all remember the wonderful experiences of the Gospel and continue to live it and share it!

Elder Perkes

#62 26 October 2015

This week was pretty great. It started off with a speedy P-day because we had to rush down to the Mission Office in Montréal to get to a leadership meeting with Elder Golden. Unfortunately I was not allowed to go in (which upset me, but it's ok). So I went on a splits-blits-thingy with Elder Roubicek, Elder Carr, and Elder Critchlow, 3 missionaries who have been out for about 4 months (Elder Roubicek is my 'brother' as he is also being trained by Elder Hunter). Basically what we did for an hour was we walked up a street, walked back down, and talked to everyone on the way. It was cool to see all that greenie fire. We placed 4-5 Book of Mormons, I believe.

After the meeting we met back up with our companions and then E. Pryor and I went with 4 other elders and got La Banquise. Good stuff. We slept over at the Zone Leaders apartment in Kirkland and then woke up bright and early the next morning so we could get to the Papineau chapel by 5:30. At 6:30 we sat in our seats waiting for Elder Golden and then we all got up and we formed a line into the gym where we were all able to shake his hand and introduce ourselves. He asked us how long we've been out and where we were from. I told him that I was from Logan (no one knows where Hyde Park is) and he said, "I know that there are a lot of Perkes up there." but the line moved too fast and I hesitated and so I wasn't able to ask how he knew that. . . But it was still cool!

So, Elder Golden focused on being exactly obedient and having the Holy Ghost. He said how it's the small and simple things we do everyday that help us invite and keep the Holy Ghost in our lives and that with it, we can't do anything. So, Elder Pryor and I have a renewed motivation to be exactly obedient. He told us not to worry about what we've done in the past because we can always change and become better. Overall, it was a really good conference.

The rest of the week we were able to do lots of service. Raking leaves mostly. The trees have gone from their pretty oranges and reds and are now turned dull and brown and they are dropping EVERYWHERE. So, last Thursday, we went to help Chad, a recent convert in the branch. We were able to rake a nice big pile and even took some fun pictures of us jumping in it. Then we went over to help his neighbor rake/mow here lawn a bit as well. After we had finished there and talked to her a bit, we went back to Chad's yard and filled 18 black bags chuck full of leaves. At about 11:20 we had finished all the work and said bye to Chad. As we walked to the car, Elder Pryor hesitated. He patted all his pockets and he uttered something so dark that it caused the light of the sun to blink. "Uh, where are the keys?"

"Are you serious?" replied Chad. With another 5-6 searches through every pocket we concluded that the keys were lost. With a sigh, we started looking, having almost no idea where to start. We commenced our search with a prayer, as a good missionary should, and we kept a prayer in our hearts as we began to scan the grass for anything shiny or black. When we found nothing, we began to lift up the bags and shake them rigorously, listening for anything that could come near to the sound jangling of keys. Still, no luck. Chad left to go search his neighbor's yard and, with a sting in our hearts, we began to rip open each of the 18 bags and pour them onto a tarp. We hoped that the the weight of the keys would fall through the dead leaves and hit the coarse tarp with a jingling crackle and reveal their location. Unfortunately, every bag was emptied and the keys were still not found. By this time I was getting quite discouraged. We had prayed and were doing everything we could to find these keys. I was expecting a miracle. That one lucky bag or shimmer in the dirt. But it just wasn't happening. I had even got down on my hands and knees and literally swept a section of grass with my hand. I even got out my camera and searched the photos seeing if I had a lucky pic of the keys flying out of his pocket. Nothing. So, after about an hour and 40-ish minutes of searching I sat down to take a rest. I was discouraged, tired, hungry, and on the verge of giving up. Chad was still in his neighbors yard and Elder Pryor was on his knees in the huge pile, taking the leaves a handful at a time. Then, I looked over, and I saw his head bowed, and I wondered if he was praying again for divine help in finding them. But as he lifted his head, his hand came with it as he held up the keys and big smile of relief appeared on his face. The search was over and we went over to tell Chad that we had found it, and he was walking back from his neighbors yard. We showed him the keys and he told his neighbors that the keys were found, and then he told us that the whole time he was over at his neighbor's, he was talking to her and her mother about us, the missionaries, and a little about the gospel. Later, Elder Pryor told me this: he had decided to sit down and just search the leaves by the handful, not really knowing what else to do. As he almost mindlessly grabbed handful after handful, a thought came to him: "Put your hand in, pull it out, and they will be there." So, he reached in extra far, grabbed a handful and felt. . . nothing. With a sigh, he pulled out his hand and CLINK! The keys fell to his lap.

Hopefully that wasn't too long for you, but it was an excellent lesson on prayer, perseverance, and faith that all will be well. It was a needle in a haystack miracle, you could say. I'm thankful for a companion who hung in there.

Thank you for your prayers and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Elder Perkes

p.s. Alma 34:27 Pray and ponder always for you and those around you

#61 19 October 2015

The answer: 15 cords (read on to find our more!)

Allo, allo!

This week we did lots of service. We picked a bunch of apples again, and they were HUGE! Lets just say we have enough apples to last us while. Elder Pryor actually made exploding apple pies! Ok, they didn't really explode, but they kinda fell apart. That didn't make them any less yummy though. (Elder Pryor is a pretty good cook).

Friday one of our members set up a Zumba class, and she really wanted us to come. So we invited a bunch of members and a few of our investigators and a grand total of 5 people showed up. . . Kind of awkward, but we had fun.

Saturday we helped move TONS of wood. Literally. We moved 15 cords of wood. For those of you who, like me, have no idea what that means, a cord is a 4'X8' stack of wood. That's feet, not inches. It was an all day affair. It took about 2 hours load up, and that was with the help of this fancy conveyor belt machine that the guy had. It was super scary because it ended about halfway into the truck and was about a foot or two above our heads. We should have had hard hats or something because I was so scared that a log was going to land on my head that my neck was looking up most of the time.So, once all the wood was in (and the truck was chuck full of it) we drove the 1.5 hours to drop off the wood, which took 2.5 hours to unload. What made it even worse is that as we were stacking, twice the piles almost fell all over. Thankfully only the end fell, but it was still pretty scary. After all that we had nice lunch at 5 o'clock of pizza and pop. Then we had to leave because usually on Saturdays Mike and Elianne (Recent convert and non-member wife) feed us, so we had dinner at 7 that night. I was very happy to get into bed that night.

Other than that, not too much happening. Ann, one of our investigators is very sick with shingles. It's very hard for to even move so we've been helping her out a lot around the house and just trying to help keep her spirits up. Johanne, another investigator, is going to Salt Lake City tomorrow to attend a business conference for a company she's in. She wants to visit Temple Square and go to church next Sunday while she's there so we're super excited for her and we're hoping that she really feels the Spirit while she's there. Other big things is that tomorrow we will be having a zone conference and Elder Christoffel Golden of the Seventy will be coming to do a mission tour, so we're very excited about all that. And the cherry on top of it all is that the Montreal Temple will be rededicated on November 22, which means in early November there will be the temple open house and we're super excited for all our members and investigators to go. Super exciting!

This week I am super thankful for my family, that I was able to have the gospel in my life from a young age.
Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches , and loving favour rather than silver and gold."

Bonne semaine!

Elder Perkes

#60 13 October 2015

Dear Everybody,

This week has been pretty good, but we didn't do too, too much. We were able to go do some service at a farm. We picked up about 12 laundry baskets full of apples, and it was only from 8 trees. They have 250 trees in total. . . Pretty crazy. But it was pretty fun and we got a whole bunch of fresh apples and some fresh apple juice. Pretty great stuff, if I do say.

We did splits with the Zone Leaders (who are also in our district) which was pretty fun. Well, except for the part when we were almost sprinting out of their apartment with a plate full of chicken kebabs that we hoped were cooked enough so we could make it to an appointment on time. Then the person wasn't even there and we saw our back-up plan walk out the front door just as we came. It was pretty terrible. But we had good night anyways. The next morning we went to a gym that was owned by one of their members and it was super great. I had more motivation to actually work out and it was fun.

Sunday I had to give a talk on Matthew 8:23-27, when Christ calmed the stormy Sea of Galilee. I focused on how when we turn to Christ he will calm our own stormy lives. It turned out pretty good, I think, considering it was my first real Sunday in the branch. Pretty great. After church we went down to Sister Kelley's house, a super awesome member in our branch with 5 boys who basically make up the entire primary, for Thanksgiving dinner, because Canadian Thanksgiving was yesterday. We had wonderful dinner of hamburgers, chips, and turkey with about 13 people squished around a table meant for 6. It was wonderful. Then on Monday (yesterday) we went to Mike (member) and Elianne's (Mike's non-member but very nice wife) house for our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of turkey pies, mashed potatoes, ham, veggies, pie, and ice cream. So, it was wonderful. After dinner we took some food to Ann, one of our investigators, because she had been in the hospital on Saturday and was too sick to come to the dinner at Mike's. She appreciated it very much and we had a good time.

My Ponderizing Scripture this week: Mosiah 27:14 when the Angel explains to Alma the Younger that his father, Alma, had prayed for him and that Heavenly Father will always answer the prayers of the faithful.

Elder Perkes

#59 5 October 2015

So, this week was pretty exciting. It started with a nice lunch at La Banquise (poutine) where Elder Shumway bought a regular poutine, ate a third of it, put the rest in a box, went up to pay for his meal, then left the box on the counter. Basically he left 8 dollars on the counter there. Pretty funny when he found out on the metros. The rest of the week was mostly preparation and packing for transfers, which went smoothly besides the fact that I got sick. We were able to visit a few families before I left and take a few pictures. I'll be missing Hochelaga, but I'm excited to be in Hawkesbury with Elder Pryor. Elder Pryor is from Orem, Utah and it going home in December. I met him when I was in Ottawa and now we're companions and we get along pretty well. It's been pretty fun so far. Hawkesbury is full of bi-lingual people and is very small compared to Montreal. The actual physical area is huge, but it's all small towns. My first night I was not feeling super awesome, but we still helped this one family move in. It was pretty fun, but the house was not in the best condition (the previous owner didn't clean it up very well) so that fired up the husband a bit. They had been through a lot the whole day because they weren't able to get people to help them pack up the trailer and then they come to a home that's not clean. But we were able to unload just about everything before 10 o'clock and I was very happy to get a nice rest. Mostly I've been meeting our investigators, less active and active members. Conference was SO great! I learned so much. One thing I got from 3 different talks that we could apply to almost anything is Simplify, Magnify, and Clarify. A new goal I have is to Ponderize a new verse each week. This week my verse is 1 Nephi 6:4-6, and it's Nephi explaining how he wants to write the things that are most pleasing unto God, and not to man. I hope that we can all take and apply the new things we learned in conference, because I know that if we do that, we will find more peace and happiness in this world that seems to be unraveling more and more. Have a great week!

Elder Perkes

#58 28 September 2015

Important points because I don't have a ton of time, sorry.

Hugo has a date! We had a great lesson and then later that day he and Guylaine, our newest investigator, came to the baptism for 3 kids in the Montreal Est Branch. They both loved it! We had over 80 people at the baptism, which was great.

Probably the next exciting/sad thing is that after 6 months of being in the big city of Montreal in the lovely ward of Hochelaga, I shall be transferred to a little English branch 45 minutes away called Hawkesbury. I'm sad, happy, excited, and scared. I'm excited to be in a new area, happy that I know my new companion a little already and he seems pretty cool, sad to leave all the wonderful people I've met and worked with (note: must come to visit), and worried I shall lose my french. But it's ok! That's what studies are for, right?

Funny story of the week:

Last Sunday at our pot-luck Elder Shumway bit his lip. 3 days later, it started bothering him a lot and we looked it and it had gross white spot on it. We had some mission people look at it and then Elder Shumway decided to go to the doctor. It took about 1 hour to get to the doctors office where we waited 10 minutes because we were early and then another 30 because the appointments were backed up. Finally the doctor invited us in, looked at Elder Shumway's mouth and walked out. 5 minutes later he walks back in and says that it's going to heal on it's own and that he just needs to avoid touching it and eating on that side and that he can gargle salt water if he wants. . . Then an out back to our next appointment. [face palm] Quite an adventure.

So, change is coming! I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC general conference! How lucky we are to have a prophet today!

Elder Perkes

#57 21 September 2015

This week was pretty good, but I don't have a ton of time so here it is in a nutshell:

I had splits with Elder Hernandez where we ate $5 Thai food, gave a haircut to one of our good friends in the ward, Daniel Bolduc, I attended some District Leader duties and did 2 baptismal interviews with 2 kids going to get baptized this Saturday, and then visited the Cosmes, a Spanish Family in our ward. They made us Agua de Horchata which is the delicious drink of rice, milk, and sugar. SO GOOD.

The rest of the week was filled with normal stuff. We got a new investigator from the English Elders, Guylaine and she seems pretty solid, searching for truth and stuff. We had few Dinners with members which is always nice and we did LOTS of planning.

Sunday was fun because our 2nd and 3rd hours we did a genealogy activity, which most of our investigators liked, in preparation for the reopening of the Montreal Temple. Then we had a nice big pot-luck after with so much good food and stuff.

And we finally got a baptismal date for Margalie! [cheers] So, she should be baptized in the mid-October. (we have to do some scheduling magic with the stake to have it). But it should be good!

Have a fantabulous week!

Elder Perkes

#56 15 September 2015

This week wasn't the most exciting week. We were able to go to the Biodome, which was basically a mini-zoo. My favorite was the poison dart frogs and the puffins, which I have decided is my new animaux preferé (favorite animal en français). We had a few suppers at members houses and I had this Mexican drink made from flower pedals called Jamaica (pronounced like huh-my-kuh) and few good lessons. Hugo and Margalie are doing good, but we're still working on the coffee thing. But they both committed to stop. We also had pass-off with the English Elders, Elder Hunter (my trainer) and Elder Roubicek (his new trainee). His name is Hughes and he seems like a pretty cool Haitian. Sunday was a little crazy. I was able to play a duet with Elder Shumway in Sacrament meeting with me playing the piano (that's for you mom) and he was playing the organ. We played the song found in this months Ensign called "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need". Everyone loved it and said it was perfect (there a few timing errors, but no one really noticed). Then we had another pass-off with the English Elders in a sketchy part of the our area, but the guy seemed nice. His name was Hugo (yes, we now have 2 Hugos we're teaching) and he's just young guy but his environment isn't the most...inviting. We were interrupted by a lady who jumped in, told us her life story and why she believes what she believes. It wasn't necessarily bad, it was just. . . odd. But we got a return appointment. After that the Chinese Elders, Elder Chou and Elder Woo, called to ask if we could open the church for them and come help them with a lesson. So we sat in on the lesson, which they kept mostly in English. It was a long Sunday and we weren't able to eat until quite late. But it was good and I got a good night's rest for our Zone Conference the next day. It was such a good Zone Conference. A big chunk we talked about the Sabbath Day and how if we keep the Sabbath Day more sacred, if we really dedicate it to a day of rest from the world, all other aspects of our life will be better. We also learned about Sacrifice and how we need to cut of the bad branches and purge the good ones so that we can become better (John 15:1-2). 

So, pretty good week.

Elder Perkes

#55 8 September 2015

This week was pretty fun/crazy/normal/yummy. We had a little district activity where we all went up to Mount Royal to see the view point of the whole city. Yes, it's more of a hill than a mount, but it was cool anyways. While up there, we saw this kid and his aunt playing together. The kid was playing the accordion and the lady was playing the public piano. They were really cool and we were talking with them after and the lady said that she had actually met President Hinckley! She had been in a group that had performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and they had lunch with a bunch of general authorities.

Wednesday we had a pretty good district meeting and after we did a split with the other Elders. Elder Smith came with me to our area and it was ok. Nothing super exciting, but after a long night of bus rides we stopped at this tiny Thai restaurant and it was FANTASTIC. I got a plate of special noodles, shrimp, and chicken. Then we had fried ice cream. It was SOOOO good. The next day we had ANOTHER split with the Zone Leaders, but this time I went to their area with Elder Gutierrez and Elder Shumway stayed in ours with Elder Munoz. Unfortunately, all of our appointments fell through and we spent a lot of time in the car making calls and figuring out what we were going to do. We were supposed to have one solid lesson in the evening, but that cancelled as soon as we showed up. So we talked with the member who came with us (well, he did. They talked in Spanish) and while I awkwardly stood there picking out a word here and there, two younger men walked by. As they passed us, the one walking closest to us lifted up his hand and said, "High-five!" I reacted with such great reflexes and returned the high-five. They just continued walking. Random moment, I would say.

Saturday we went to our first lesson and I COMPLETELY forgot to wear a tie. I almost felt naked without it. But it was ok. The lesson went well. We have 2 solid investigators Hugo and Margalie. Both come to church consistently and Margalie really wants to be baptized. Hugo is still a little hesitant. He doesn't feel like he's ready for the moment, but I think he'll be fine. 

For fast and testimony meeting I bore my testimony about Charity. I shared something I had learned in District Meeting from Elder Plumb. Charity is the pure love of Christ, which doesn't necessarily mean that charity is your love for someone. Really, Charity is the Atonement. And how we have Charity is by sharing the blessings of the Atonement with everyone. That is true charity. So, that was a cool thing I learned.

Then yesterday, for Labor Day, all of our appointments cancelled. It was long day of walking and trying to find lost ward members and investigators. My feet were very tired at the end and I was happy to get some sleep.

Thanks everyone for your love and support and have a great week!

Elder Perkes

Letters #51-54 and pictures

Alvarez Family

 At Mount Royal with other missionaries

 Interesting sauce - complete will real mini bible

 Pictures at the Botanical Gardens

 View of Montreal!

 Elder Perkes with his companion Elder Shumway

 Ward Picnic

Wax museum - he met quite a few celebrities

Letter #54

31 August 2015

It has been a pretty long week with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and even a loop-di-loop with a tunnel at the bottom. But, at the end of the day, the roller coaster keeps trucking along.

Last P-day we went to the Botanical Garden or "Jardin Botanique" for you francophones. It's basically a giant garden that features different types of gardens all over the world. Chinese and Japanese, Alps and Mexico, and all sorts of fruit trees and berry bushes and all that fun stuff. After that we had a nice dinner at our Bishop's house and a nice family home evening with their 3 daughters. We talked about how if we are good, we will all be together again in heaven. Then one of the daughters, with the wonderful imagination that could only come from someone between the ages of 3 and 6, said, "Maybe, in heaven, we'll be able to eat oranges with the peels on them!" I'll let that sink in for a moment.

.

Wednesday we had a nice District meeting where the Plumbs gave a wonderful training/family home evening on family home evening. The talked about how important it is to make sure that the home is a safe haven from the constant bombardments of Satan and his followers. They talked about how parents must send their children out with the daily strength of prayer of scripture study to help them in their daily struggles. It was a good training. Thursday we helped one of our members clean out his uncles apartment (who had recently died) and my goodness was it a mess. We had to throw away so much junk and it was so dirty and messy and ugh. It was terrible. But we were a big help, which is what I like to be.

Other than that, normal missionary stuff. Teaching, going to church, riding metros, eating, riding metros home, etc, etc.

I hope everyone has good week!

D&C 121:7-9

Ether 12:27

Elder Perkes

Letter #53

24 August 2015

It has been a pretty long week with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and even a loop-di-loop with a tunnel at the bottom. But, at the end of the day, the roller coaster keeps trucking along.

Last P-day we went to the Botanical Garden or "Jardin Botanique" for you francophones. It's basically a giant garden that features different types of gardens all over the world. Chinese and Japanese, Alps and Mexico, and all sorts of fruit trees and berry bushes and all that fun stuff. After that we had a nice dinner at our Bishop's house and a nice family home evening with their 3 daughters. We talked about how if we are good, we will all be together again in heaven. Then one of the daughters, with the wonderful imagination that could only come from someone between the ages of 3 and 6, said, "Maybe, in heaven, we'll be able to eat oranges with the peels on them!" I'll let that sink in for a moment.

.

Wednesday we had a nice District meeting where the Plumbs gave a wonderful training/family home evening on family home evening. The talked about how important it is to make sure that the home is a safe haven from the constant bombardments of Satan and his followers. They talked about how parents must send their children out with the daily strength of prayer of scripture study to help them in their daily struggles. It was a good training. Thursday we helped one of our members clean out his uncles apartment (who had recently died) and my goodness was it a mess. We had to throw away so much junk and it was so dirty and messy and ugh. It was terrible. But we were a big help, which is what I like to be.

Other than that, normal missionary stuff. Teaching, going to church, riding metros, eating, riding metros home, etc, etc.

I hope everyone has good week!

D&C 121:7-9

Ether 12:27

Elder Perkes

Letter #52

17 August 2015

Hello everybody!

This week was a little slow, but we were able to do some good stuff.

Monday we visited the Notre Dame Basilica here in Montreal. It was fun and while the tour lady was describing how big the organ was, she talked about how it is really big, but there are a few bigger ones, one in Salt Lake City. Yup.

We were able to teach a few of our investigators. Hugo, a quebecois man, is doing well. He comes to church, prays, reads everything we give and more. Youcef, an Algerian young man, is great. He came to church, he reads from the Book of Mormon, and he wants to be baptized. We will be passing him off to the YSA, so we hope that he has fun there.

This week I have been reading and thinking a lot about our ancestors. They sacrificed so much so that we can the rights and freedoms we have today. Pioneers faced almost every storm in life, whether that came from nature or man. I have been reading their stories of faith, of perseverance, of long-suffering, and of joy in the Gospel. We can learn so much from their examples and we can push through life's challenges if we look towards our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And if we do so, we will the example for our children, and their children, and all of those who will come after us. I am so grateful for Pioneers, ancient, modern, and the pioneers of today. "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a stead fastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." 2 Nephi 31:20

Elder Perkes

Letter #51

10 August 2015 

Well, I've got less than a year left. Time flies. This week I was able to finish the Book of Mormon in French. I was able to read it in 73ish days. By the end I noticed how much more I understood, not just the language but the story and the concepts as well. On our year mark we had a Zone Training Meeting where we talked about our purpose as missionaries, and how as we focus on our purpose we are able to make better plans and therefore be more productive with the short time we have here. Other stuff. . . We have a new investigator from Algeria. He was introduced to the church by his friend and he called us up one day and said that he wanted to meet with us. I was a little shocked because that normally doesn't happen, but we were able to have a good lesson and he seems very interested. I have high hopes for him. Saturday we helped with a Single Adult activity which was INSANE. When we first got there we were just waiting around. We set up tables and put bread on all of them. Then they started filing in and we put salads on all the tables. Then they started to "order". Originally the plan was they would get chicken. The only exception is if they couldn't eat chicken, whatever the reason. But, the waiters would go up and ask "Lasagna or chicken?" As if they had a choice. Then the chaos began. Orders were flying everywhere and people were in and out of the tiny kitchen. Only half of the table was being served at a time and the numbers on all the tables were crazy so we had no idea where to serve. Then we ran out of lasagna and the people who needed the lasagna ended up with vegetables, rice, and extra salad. Oh, it was crazy. But, in the end, everyone was fed, and we went home with 2 extra Cosco chickens. So, it was pretty good week.

Elder Perkes

Letters #42, #43, #44, #45, #46, #47, #48, #49, #50

#50 August 3^rd, 2015

The Form of a Butterfly

Well, things are cooling down a little. But we still have hot days. It was in the 30s earlier this week (now that's Celsius which is around 86 F. Not to mention humidity. And our apartment is on the top floor. . . ugh) but right now it's nice. Early in the week Elder Shumway got another organ lesson from Sister Plumb and I talked with Elder Plumb. He is a very doctrine-ly smart man. Actually, he's just a smart man in general. We talked about how he and his wife were going to a YSA Conference this last week end up in Quebec City. He was the opening speaker for it and the theme was "Let them be one" from. . . the. . . Bible. . . It's when Jesus is saying a prayer to help the disciples to be one, like how the Father and the Son are one, just before Gethsemane. He was telling me how when he prepares his talks, he writes his thoughts, and when he has how he wants to word them, he just makes an outline. Then he says that when he speaks, he speaks to the audience like how he speaks to a friend. He says it makes it more interesting. I thought to myself, "I've never thought of it like that. I want to have my talks like that!" so, just a cool idea. Then we went out to eat after, which is always nice. Later that day we visited the Grenier-Houdes, the family of one of the councilors in the Bishopric. We had a nice visit. During the visit we had mentioned in passing how our air conditioner is broken and how hot it is. Then, as we were leaving, Frere Grenier-Houde said, "We have an air conditioner that works well that we don't use any more, I can come by tomorrow morning and drop it off for you." And we were blessed with a fantastic air conditioner that keeps our apartment soooooo nice. Yay for members!

We had a really good District meeting this last week. Elder Shumway gave an excellent training on Home Teaching. We don't just home/visit teach because it's something that the First Presidency thought would be nice homework for us, we visit the families in our wards so that they may be nourished by the good word of God. We help them with their difficulties and are there to bless their lives and be their friends. The talk he got it from was by Elder Russel M. Nelson: Shepherds, Lambs, and Home Teachers. So, if you haven't already got the hint, DO YOUR HOME AND VISITING TEACHING. If you've been doing it, good I'm glad. Go buy yourself some chocolate. The rest of the meeting went very well and the Spirit was there. My chest was burning after and it just felt good.

Later in the week we were on the way to an appointment and Elder Shumway sat down next to a guy who I could tell was looking at us. As soon as Elder Shumway sat down, he pulled out his BoM and started reading and the guy asked him if it was the Bible. They had a nice conversation and in the end Elder Shumway gave him the BoM. We got to our appointment, which was in a large park, and we could NOT find the investigator. We called several times and we couldn't find her. Finally, we figured it out and as we were walking this called out to us from under a tree and asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses (haven't heard THAT before). We said no, we're Mormons and he said, "Ok, do you want to teach me something?" I thought to myself, YES! But we had our appointment. So I gave him a card with our number. The lesson went well and right in the middle of it, a butterfly came and landed on my shoulder and stayed there until the closing prayer. I told Elder Wassum about it and he asked, "So, it was the Holy Ghost in the form of a butterfly?" I'll take it. 

Hopefully that email was long enough and I hope y'all got something good out of it. Have a fantastical week!

Elder Perkes

#49 July 27^th, 2015

Splits and Gifts

Bonjour à tous!

This week was pretty good. We were able to talk and teach and walk and preach and all that jazz.

Tuesday we were on our way to a meeting when this random lady walked up to us and asked if we would like to buy a violin (I was wearing my ukulele and she thought is was a violin case). We said no, were not all that interested and we started to explain that we're missionaries for our church and she started going off about all these things that she "knew" about Mormons. I was a little startled at how crazy these different accusations were, but Elder Shumway was able to make her take a Book of Mormon to read and think about. She was a little hesitant, but he was persistent and I did my best to testify of the truth. Then we quickly left to our meeting.

Wednesday, after an OK district meeting, we left with the other Elders to help a random lady move. It was crazy. The truck showed up late and we had other appointments we needed to go to. It was pretty disorganized and 2 of us had to leave before it was all finished, but I feel like she appreciated it. After, I went with Elder Hernandez to his area and Elder Smith went with Elder Shumway to ours. It was a nice day. We were able to teach some less actives and meet some people. The next day, Thursday, we had English class, but we had to do another split with the English YSA Elders so that we could do a pass-off lesson. It was pretty crazy, but it went well.

Saturday went very well, I felt. We were able to see Hugo, a new investigator. He had called the day before and he said that he had read the Restoration pamphlet and a bunch of other things on line and he wanted more! We were very excited and we went and taught a nice lesson. Then we were able to have another lesson with a pass-off from the Sisters in the Montreal Est branch. Her name is Margalie and she has lots of family that are members. Here mother (who was a member) recently passed away which really hit here and opened the doors of her heart to let the spirit in (ooh, that was deep, was it not?). We had a great lesson and we were able to bring Bro. Cajuste, who actually knew Margalie's mother and sister from when they were all living in Haiti. Coincidence? I think NOT! (my new favorite line to use as a missionary). So, it was a pretty good week. To top it all off, Jimmy was able to come to church (which he loved) and we had a lovely dinner after with some members.

This week was full of lovely little miracles and I know that when we are looking for them, we realize how often Heavenly Father places these little miracles in our lives. Look for those miracles and show your gratitude for them! Because it's like thanking your mom for those delicious cookies she just made. You'll often get seconds, and maybe even thirds. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" ~Matthew 7:11

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Perkes

#48 July 20^th, 2015 

I can’t sing

Dear Family, friends, acquaintances, and creepers who read my emails,

This week has been pretty good. We had a nice, casual P-day of pool (the green fuzzy table, not the swimmer thing), Foosball, and ping-pong against a team from Zarahemla ward (the Spanish ward that meets in the same building as us).

We were able to visit a few different people this week. There's a member who is new to our ward that we visited. He's going through some financial difficulties, but he seems to be doing well. His wife isn't a member (yet), so there's some potential there. Wednesday we had pretty good district meeting. I used my District Leader power of delegation and it seemed to turn out well. We had a few good trainings and I could tell that the spirit was present. So really, I didn't have to to do anything. We had dinner with a member that night with her less-active son. It was a little rough. We tried to sing a song with my ukulele, but we had forgotten to practice. And to top it off the son made a joke just before and Elder Shumway started laughing in the middle. It was somewhat disastrous, but it was pretty funny.

Thursday we had interviews with President Patrick. It went pretty well. He gave me some good advice on really focusing on our purpose of missionaries. Sometimes in missionary work (this can also apply to callings, responsibilities, families, or most of life in general) we get caught up in the check list of things to do. We look at our list of things to do and we do them and check them off, then forget about them until our next check list. Life is not a check list. We need focus on why we are doing what we're doing. An example in missionary work: we are told by our leaders that we need to contact the people we are working with daily. Sometimes we go about it as check list. We send a text message with a scripture and then check their name off. The purpose of daily contact is to help them have the daily dose of the Gospel that they need. Satan is bombarding them (and us) every hour with worldly temptations. We need to combat that by doing the "primary answers" daily. Reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, etc. Really focusing on why we do things will help us want to do them instead of looking at them as some mundane chore.

So there's my rant for the week. I hope you got something from it.

Other stuff from the week. . . Probably the last highlight is that we had 3 people give us food to take home on Sunday. Food is nice.

So, that's the week in a nutshell. Have a good one!

Elder Perkes

#47 July 13^th, 2015

Like a District Leader!  (not quiet the same ring as ‘boss’…)

Bonjour tout le monde!

So, this week started with Cedric (a member in Laval), Elder Shumway and I going to see the St. Joseph Oratory. It's this giant cathedral/church dedicated to Joseph, the father of Jesus. It's gigantic. It was pretty cool. I got a pastry after which was nice. On the way home we went down into the metros. As I sat down this guy on the bench said Bonjour and shook my hand. I sat down somewhat next to him, but he didn't say anything afterword. I felt awkward. I didn't know if he was a member, an investigator, or just one of those crazy people that say hi to missionaries (they do exist). So I started making some small talk, asking him about his day. Then I asked him how he knew the missionaries and he replied (in french), "I talk to missionaries from time to time." In my head, I thinking, That tells me NOTHING! Then he said Hi to Cedric and I felt embarrassed. He was a ward member in YSA. So I got pranked, sorta.

Thursday I had my first District meeting as District Leader. It started a little late, but it went pretty well. Not the best, but well. I've got some ideas for next week that will hopefully improve it.

Thursday we had splits with the Zone Leaders, which I was really nervous about. We were supposed to have a lesson with Jimmy, our awesome investigator, but he was working and didn't show up. I was pretty disappointed. The splits went pretty well. I went with Elder Pesquiera. He goes home next transfer. He's cool and is from Orem, Utah. He gave me some good advice on being District Leader and contacting people on the metros, because I still have difficulty with that, but I've made a plan and I feel like it should go pretty well.

Other stuff this week. . . We had a good dinner appointment with Sister Kinic, a Congolese women who lived in France for most of her life. She showed us a song she wrote and she wants to get it published, but she doesn't really know where to turn to find people to publish it, but it's a pretty good song. Sunday we had a dinner appointment with the family Lemus. They're pretty awesome. The Wassums were there too. It was fun and we sang with my ukulele with them. They're from El Salvador so we sang in Spanish. It was all good fun. That night I did my first District Calls as District Leader. It went pretty good. I basically winged it, but it was fun. Lots of good stuff this week. 

A final quote that I read in a talk this week:

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He knows."

~Corrie ten Boom (I think that was the name)

Everything that happens, happens for a reason. It prepares us for not only our future here on earth, but after this life as well. Heavenly Father know us and knows what's best for us. I love you all!

Elder Perkes 

#46 July 6^th, 2015

‘Merica!

This week was pretty fun. We visited this older brother in our ward named Pierre Cantin. He's deaf so someone has to sign for him in church. We visited him, had a nice little lunch, and he taught us how to sign some. It was fun and I really liked it. He doesn't really do too much, so he takes things that people have thrown out, fixes them up, and puts them in his apartment. He's pretty crafty and he has a fantastic view from his window.

Wednesday we had splits. Elder Hernandez came with me and Elder Shumway went with Elder McLaughlin. We were supposed to help one person move, but then that didn't work out. So instead we helped another lady move. It was crazy. We tried our best to help. And to top it all off it was DUMPING rain. You couldn't stay outside for 5 seconds without getting soaked. But we had a great DA with the Famille Lemus after. We had tosdadas. And I got to hold their pet chinchilla. Pretty cool stuff. Thursday we had Zone Training meeting. We got to see some stats of the missions and the area and we had some good stuff on Charity and why we do certain things to help our members and investigators. Overall it was a good training. 

Saturday we had a nice DA and correlation. Then we had Transfer calls! -yay- Me and Elder Shumway are staying the same, but I am becoming District Leader which I'm a little scared about, but I think it'll be ok. We were able to see a few Fireworks for the 4th of July from our apartment (strange how Canada celebrates our Independence day). But it was a good week. 

Here's a thought from our Training:

" 35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

Helaman 3:35

Elder Perkes

#45 June 29^th, 2015

It’s About Time!

This week was pretty good.

Guillermo Lemus, our ward mission leader, got his mission cal, to LA California, Spanish speaking! So that's exciting. He's not leaving until November so we still have him for a while. But he had been waiting for his call for more than 4 months because a bunch of crazy financial stuff. So we're excited for him. 

I just want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It went very well and we had a fun time. We were able to visit the Athanassi family, the oldest family in the ward. It is a brother and his 2 sisters. They are very old but super nice. We talked with them for a long while and he has such a strong testimony of the church. He has been able to experience so many miracles in his life and he is just amazing. 

We were also able to meet a man by the name of Roger. He is from Congo and seems pretty interested. We're able to teach him a little bit and comit him to come to church this next week. So we're hopeful for him. 

On Saturday we were able to have a wonderful lesson with Jimmy, our most progressing investigator. We had dinner at the bishops house and a great lesson about the priesthood. Unfortunately jimmy did not come to church, but he was moving because his living situation was a little crazy, so I guess he has an ok excuse. 

On Sunday we were supposed to have dinner with the Wassums, the senior couple in our ward, and then talk about the ward list after, but Sister Wassum came up to us and said she hadn't prepared anything, so she asked if we were ok with salad. I was a little disappointed, but I was ok. Then Sister Candenedo, a nice sister in our ward, came up to us and said, "I have food for you to take home!" So we fed the Wassums lasagna, salad, and really good bread. That morning I had watched a Mormon message on the Tender Mercies of the Lord. I took that as one. The Lord's timing helps you recognize his tender mercies, and the timing for that was perfect. 

Hope y'all have a good week! (Elder Wassum has a nice Virginian accent)

Elder Perkes 

#44 June 22^nd, 2015

Birthday Salmon

This last week was pretty good. On P-day we visited Old Montreal, which was really cool. Lots of old buildings and expensive restaurants.

Tuesday we helped our Bishop move lots of wood and stuff from his basement. He's doing some renovations and so we helped him out a bit with that. After that we went to the Lemus's where we had a wonderful dinner and scripture study. Also, Elder Shumway and I have started singing hymns with our members while I play the ukulele which seems to be working pretty well.

Thursday was Elder Shumway's B-day. Missionary birthdays are pretty much blend with every other day of the week. We were able to see the Slimi's, a recent convert family from Algeria. They're pretty cool and we had a fun time singing with them.

Saturday we were able to have a great lesson with Jimmy. He's right on track for his baptism on the 18, we just need him to come to church more regularly and to get him more friends in the ward, but once one of those problems is fixed, the other should be easier. Then we celebrated Elder Shumway's birthday that night by eating a big chunk of Salmon. It was really good. Definitely one of the best missionary-made meals I've ever had.

So it was a good week for meeting more members.

Elder Perkes 

#43 June 15^th, 2015

First One’s on the House

This week we've had a few adventures.

Tuesday we were cleaning the apartment because splits was the next day and Elder Shumway wanted it to look nice. He was in the process of cleaning the bathroom when he noticed a spot on the ceiling that he couldn't quite reach. So he stood on the toilet to reach it. I was walking nearby when suddenly I heard a cr-CLUNK-a-dunka SPLASH! "Elder Peeeeerkes?!" He had broken the seat off the toilet and landed in the bowl of toilet water. I laughed pretty hard. But it was clean and we got the seat replaced. Later that day we visited the senior couples, the Wassums, and had lunch with them. After, we gave a blessing to a 89 year old less-active member. She appreciated it very much.

Wednesday we went on exchanges. I went with Elder McLaughlin up to north and Elder Hernandez stayed in our area with Elder Shumway. We visited a few members and we were supposed to have a pass off lesson, but the male of the home was not present, so we could actually stay for the lesson. We decided to stop at a depaneur (corner store) nearby to grab a juice. We walked in and asked if they took credit. The owner said yes, but when we went back to pay for our drinks, he scanned them, but didn't take Elder McLaughlin's card. We looked at him and he just gave us our drinks, smiled, and waved good bye. We were a little stunned because this random guy just gave us some free drinks. Super nice. Later that night there was a really cool lightning storm and we just watched it from the apartment window.

Thursday we had a Zone Training meeting. President gave a really good training on how to really help people change. When people truly understand the doctrine behind everything we do, they will change. “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes andbehavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel willimprove behavior quicker than a study of behavior willimprove behavior.”
–President Boyd K. Packer

That's a quote found in Preach My Gospel.

Sunday was quite exciting. The Group du Nord, a group that was technically part of our ward but met in another place up north, became a branch! [yay!] So they organized the presidency and all that fun stuff. Then, after church, one of our members made us dinner and we ate it with her daughters family, who's husband was the former bishop. Turns out, he had served here as well 10 years ago. He's originally from France, but when he came back to visit, he met a girl from Zarahemla ward and they got married. Now they live on the south shore.

So, lots of good stuff this week and Elder Shumway and I have lots of goods stuff planned for these next few weeks.

Elder Perkes

#42 June 8^th, 2015

Cloudy With A Chance of SALVATION

The weather this week has been either hot and humid or gray and rainy. We like the gray days better, but our 2 new fans keep the apartment at a decent temperature.

Wednesday after District meeting we went to get poutine with Elder and Sister Plumb, the senior couple in YSA. They served in England and one of their sons served in Montreal as well and they were able to see some of the people he served with. 

Thursday we got our water heater checked. There were 3 more Asians in our apartment and it was kind of weird. Turns out the water heater isn't working too well so we are going to get it replaced. Hopefully sometime soon.

We had a fantastic lesson with Jimmy on Friday. We covered quite a bit of stuff and he just took it all in like a sponge. He's been having a few trials and temptations the past few weeks, which has been rough for him, but he's staying strong and we are planning for him to be baptized in July.

On the way to another appointment we some "public pianos". Just these random colorful pianos that people have set up in various places around the city. Elder Shumway is a really good piano player, so we might have to go try them out one of these days.

We had English Class on Saturday morning, and Elder Shumway really liked it. We had a pretty good turn out towards the end of it. Later that night we had a ward Family home evening. It was... ok. They weren't able to announce it sacrament meeting because of Stake Conference so only a few people showed up. Most of us were missionaries. . . But we still had a good time.

Today we went and saw the City Hall building of Montreal. We just went to get a pin (we might do a tour another day) and the security guard who we talked to was actually a member in Lasalle! it was fun. He showed us pictures and gave us some pins right off his lapels.

A cool scripture we discussed in District Meeting:

"Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me-"

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly are our friends. They will be our best friend.

One more thought that I read in a talk:

"It's what you do with what you have that makes you who you are."

Elder Perkes