September 3, 2012

Hi Family! This week went amazingly well! The zone conference went very well in addition haha! I actually had the opportunity to be interviewed by Elder Richards. I waited for like an hour while he interviewed some other leaders. I walked into the interview, and we say an opening prayer. I am preparing for every question about missionary work he is ready to throw at me!! Elder Perry... yea?... What are you going to do after you mission?? UHHHHHHHHHHHHH........ I don't really know. I talked with him about college, and dating and everything they advise us not to talk about here haha. It was hilarious. He told me to take time to think about it, because honestly I avoid it!! But ya...... I have given it a little bit of thought. I am thinking about the Engineering program at U of U, as well as maybe Byu. I guess it really depends on what opportunities the Lord set's up for me, but i will think about it more, next p day. It is actually a funny story. We don't really get a p day today. We got word that President wants us to hold zone meetings as soon as possible, and sense we are way up here in the north, we need to travel down to different areas to conduct the meeting. Today we are taking a train to Kokkola to meet with about four companionship's in that area. Tomorrow we are traveling down to kuopio which is kind of by Joensuu, to conduct another meeting. We prayed about it and that is what we felt we should do. So hopefully we'll get some more p-day time on Wednesday. I am really excited that everything is going so well for you all. It is so great to hear that grandma is doing well in her mission. I have often thought to myself about grandma Huntley's testimony. I am convinced that if anyone has any concern or problem about the church or this work, if they take 15 minutes with her to hear her testimony about the Savior and this work, they will walk away asking... so when can i get baptized?? Tell her that I love her a lot, and that she is very special to me. As well as Grandma Perry. Tell her that I miss her, and think about her often. I love it up here as a zone leader, however I have come to realize that there are a lot of challenges!! With all of the training and things we do with other missionaries, it is easy to get behind on our area. I started to get really stressed out, and this is only my second week! However I have prayed very strongly that the Lord will help me. I have noticed that, that prayer thing really does help. It is hilarious. One moment i'll be in what seems like an impossible situation, and the next moment (after I pray) not only do i have the strength to accomplish the thing required, but also have confidence in it through the Lord. I know He helps us more than we are aware. I guess i was just taking too much on myself, and trying to do it alone. WHAT A GOOBER!! However, things have gone so well. My companion and I are getting along great! We are really trying to focus on taking all of President's counsel to heart. We had an interesting success story about consistency. We went out to this area to contact a referral, and then do some work. It turned out that the referral wasn't interested, and no one else in the area was interested as well. We stayed strong however. We did everything we could to follow the counsel to the best of our ability given the circumstances. As we were leaving the area, i was a little discouraged, however then came these words into my mind. "After much tribulation, cometh the blessings." We kept going. We went to another area, doing the same thing, no success, yet we were consistent. As we came back to our apartment, there was a guy out packing some things into a trailer. We offered to help him, but he didn't want help. We proceeded to follow all the counsel with him, and right there within 1 minute we set up an appointment for this week. It is so amazing to me to see how willing the Lord is to help us, yet he will teach us through our hard times. He will test us to see if we will be faithful in all things. The best stress reliever is following the spirit! This is true! I love you all, Elder Perry ps mom, what is the topic of the essay i'm supposed to write? Also can you just print my essay off the internet?` Joke!!!