July 9, 2012

Hello Family! So we got news on our change call......................................... where am I going????????????................................ Hauluaisitteko tietää??? Well the truth is.......... no where hahaha Elder Anderton is leaving. He is going down to Helsinki with my old companion Elder Larsen!! They will be in an apartment with 4 elders!!! That is like a dream! However I am here, and I am excited to stay! My new companions name is Elder Van Geenen. He is from Holland I believe. It is so funny because His first zone conference here (my new comp) I looked at him and said, We're going to serve together some day! I gave him a big hug too. Booo ya!! Prophecy fulfilled! I'll be honest I was a little disappointed. I had basically told all the members goodbye, because i thought I was leaving. We have a big area haha! The Lord has a sense of humor. When I went to bed that night, I prayed, why am I staying here? As I listened a voice said, "Called to serve........... Him." I realized because this is His work, and He knows where He needs me. This is not my mission, it's His. That is good enough for me! We are going to work hard, and go to work, like always! Anyways I will be here when the Smith's get here. I am pretty sad that my little boy is all grown up. We have had a blast together, and it is just great! One of the assistants here taught us when we were called to train, that it really is kind of a father like stewardship, and we should expect to feel that love like a father has for his son. I know that is so true, He is going to do so great! I am excited to see what he will do here! I definitely think training is my favorite calling I have ever received on my mission. I hope I can do it again! This week has been full of miracle after miracle. We have really been trying to raise our vision, and expand. This week we set a goal to teach 24 lessons. The Lord helped us reach it, as we just did our best! I have been learning the importance of being aware of our goals!!! HAHA That may sound as obvious as if I told you you need to put wood in the fire place if you want fire, however it is true! As we are conscientious about our goals, and pray with earnestness to achieve them, we will. Wow what an observation Elder Perry! How long have you been out? But it's all good! We move forward not backwards! So yesterday I'm sitting in church, and one of our English speaking members get's up to give his talk. I'm sitting there in the congregation when all of the sudden the second counselor motions for me to come up and translate haha! I run up to the stand, and do it haha. Right before we started, I was just like oh great, here we go.......................... He started speaking, and I just went for it haha! It was really cool, and my first time translating a talk from finnish into english in front of the whole congregation! I'll be honest I just do not speak finnish like a finn. However I do my best, and trust in the Lord to make up the difference. However I would say my language is really coming along, and I am improving. Also, Yesterday we really learned the importance of following the inspired schedule. At the end of church, a member came up to us and said that they had some non member friends coming over for lunch, as well as a former investigator they invited. However we felt we shouldn't go, and follow the plan we had set. We had an appointment in Kotka, and we didn't want to shaft it. We politely excused ourselves from coming and went about our day. We went to the appointment at the appointed time, and we taught him how to pray, and that God lives, and He became a new investigator. He is very interested, and said we could come back!! We then felt we should try meeting with a less active lady (wasn't home). But right as we were leaving her place, I felt we should go visit another less active. We went, and He wasn't home! Elder Anderton (as we were leaving) felt like we should tract the building. We did so, and the first door we knocked on was a young lady, and we taught her about God's plan and set up a time when we could come back!!! So cool. As we were driving away, our member who was with us felt like we should try another less active who was actually one of the people He home teaches (Well should be home teaching haha.) As we were walking in, a man came up to the door, and we taught him about the book of mormon. We asked do you have a few minutes now when we could share this with you?? He immediately responded yes, come on in! We followed him into his apartment, and we taught him. We taught about how Joseph Smith wanted to know which church was true, and he stopped us and said, that's what i'm wondering!!! The time we have to plan is so sacred, and the Lord really does guide us as we do it faithfully every night. It is so important that we stick to the plan, while following the spirit. Sometimes the solution is not always obvious, and we can't always say why we feel like doing something. There were three potential new investigators at the members house for lunch, but that is not where the Lord wanted us, and we had to obey!! Boo YAA!! The other thing I learned is the importance of unity in a companionship. Following the spirit is compared to putting a puzzle together. Each person receives a piece at a time. It doesn't matter how much we may like our piece better, we need our companions piece as well to finish the puzzle. We need to rely on those promptings, maybe even more then the promptings we receive. It is better to show your companion you love him by yielding to his promptings, than to cause an argument. I learned a cool quote from elder anderton. You can tell the kind of priesthood leader I am by the way I treat my wife at home when no one is watching. I have been trying to apply it to my companion. You can tell the kind of leader I am by the way I treat my companion at home when no one is watching. I wrote that quote in the 121st section of my Doctrine and Covenants. So cool! The Lord will help us become! I know it. There is so much to share, but so little time. It's good to here that everything is going well! I hope that you all are safe! love you, Elder Perry