Brothers!

This week a missionary returned from his mission.  His name is Omar Cordova and he is amazing.  We are teaching many people in his family because they are not all baptized yet.  He is super nice and when he came home he told every member of his family the importance of going to church and reading the Book of Mormon.  He has such a rock solid testimony.

This has been a strange week.  I am not a huge fan of holidays in Peru because it usually means that people start drinking in the street.  It makes me sad because so many people are missing the point of religious holidays.  They are always there to help us remember, reflect, and better the world.

This week our P-day is split up.  This morning we had our zone meeting and tomorrow we are going to a museum because it isn't open on Monday.  I am excited because Pedro, one of our members will be our tour guide, and he will combine the history with the Book of Mormon.

So today we went to my favorite restaurant in Chiclayo.  It is called Brother’s and it is like a little slice of the USA.  The owner loves the missionaries and it was fun to go as a zone.  His restaurant is tiny so it was funny to see so many people crammed together eating.  The owner (Mike) took a bunch of pictures with us and is a super nice guy.

This month our area has the challenge to read the Book of Mormon.  It has been such a blessing to talk with all of our members about the Book of Mormon.  I have really learned that we can learn the history of Christ through the Bible, but if we want to grow Close to Him we must read the Book of Mormon.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Feliz Pascua!

Happy Easter

So this months Liahona was amazing!  I love when there are so many things focused on our Savior.  Please watch this video about the impact Christ has on the lives of everyone. http://easter.mormon.org/

This week went by fast.  I am happy I am still here because I love my ward.  Willy, the Young Men's President is moving to Lima for work so we went to his house to eat on Saturday.  We had a scrumptious Peruvian plate, but had PB&J's for "desert."  I gave Willy one of my boxes of peanut butter because it is [his] favorite thing on earth.

Also this week I helped Pedro with his homework one day in the morning.  He is doing the BYU-I online classes and his English is really good.  It was a lot of fun because it reminded me a lot of school.

Today I went exploring with my companion and we found a small museum in the municipalidad.  I remember being young and loathing museums and now I just want to find museums every P-day.  Though Chiclayo lacks art museums it has a lot of cool historical museums.

I feel so blessed around this Easter season.  We are blessed by modern day prophets testifying of Christ in these days.  I have seen the Priesthood work miracles and I know that the power of God is on the earth.  It is important to remember in this Easter Season that the heavens are not closed, nor will they ever close.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Conference!!!

So to start off, no I do not have a change.  I will probably stay here until May.  But I am really happy because I love this area and I want to help the young men here progress toward there own missions.  I will also be going on my third change with my companion which is a decent amount of time together.

And conference was AMAZING! Especially the first session, last session, priesthood session.  Basically it was all amazing.  My favorite parts were when Holland spoke about defending the faith and about how Richard G. Scott spoke about being faithful examples in the lives of others.  I have been so blessed by so many examples in my life.  I was able to watch all of conference in English this time.  Every gringo in my zone got together in the stake office and watched conference on TV.  It was fantastic.

I love conference.  I always feel like the messages are meant for me.  There was so much about obedience and love for our savior it was inspired.  But one thing which I thought was crucial was when M. Russell Ballard spoke about how every member should have and read Preach My Gospel.  I would like to challenge everyone reading this to read PMG this month, it has simple and perfect doctrine that can guide and direct your life.  It is a tool for life, not just missionary life.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Pimentel!

So this week was great.  It is finally getting into the fall "season".  I am so glad that summer has passed.  I know it is weird to think that it was summer here.  But since summer time is gone we have permission to go to the beach again!  So we went as a zone to Pimentel this week.  It was so much fun because we played frisbee and AMERICAN Futbol on the beach.

This week Elder Riddle bought a basketball last pday so we have been getting up early to play ball at the church with our companions.

My bishop has a lot on his plate right now so one day while we were at his house I offered to help him with his job in the morning.  He builds houses and makes adobe bricks.  I enjoy learning how to do different things so this was fun for me.  I know that I will never make adobe at home, but it was super fun to learn how to do it.

One of my favorite youths in the ward is Armando.  He is incredibly Christlike and is a fantastic member missionary.  This week when he left us one of our recent converts, Joan, offered him a job.  He later said that he has been looking for a job to help him prepare for his mission.  The Lord always has his hand in everything.

This week was fast and testimony meeting because of conference.  One sister in our ward bore the most humble yet strong testimony.  I know that when the gospel of Jesus Christ takes root in the heart of people, it can change their lives.  As a missionary I am extremely blessed to see this happen day by day.

Love
Elder Perryman

PS this is a photo of my area, I have so many photos but right now the computer isn't loading them

Cambio Focos, Limpiar Techos

I love service, it is my favorite thing in the world.  This week we went out with everyone who is preparing for a mission and it was great.  I went to visit Hna Jessica, one of our less actives and we ended up helping her family clean there cambi (those big minivan things).  It was super fun and really good because we were able to gain more confidence with some of her family who are not yet members of the church.  Also I got to play with her kid, Fabricio, who is the happiest little kid in the world.  While cleaning one of my companions was joking that I also change light bulbs and clean roofs, because I am tall for Peru.

Something really funny that happened this week was that one of my recent converts, Gerson, came up to me and asked me "Is it alright to date?"  I was confused because we have taught about the "For the Strength of Youth" and the Law of Chastity, but I talked with him a bit about what the For the Strength of Youth says.  After that he told Armando, the young man who baptized him, "Elder Perryman says its alright to go on dates."  And Armando just said "yeah, but not with my sister" and stormed off.  It might have been one of the funniest moments on my mission because the youth here all treat each other like brothers and sometimes its super funny.

Also we went out contacting, looking for new people to teach and it was a great experience.  We visited a widow and her daughter with three members and we had an extremely good lesson.  Hna Estephania, one of our members, gave the closing prayer and the woman we were teaching started to cry.  I know that she needed our message.  I don't know exactly what she was going through, but I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ helped.

Love,
Elder Perryman

¿Quieres Jugar Partido?

So this week was amazing.  We saw a miracle happen this week as three more youth were baptized.  They all have such strong testimonies and I am so proud of everyone.  I have seen this Young Men's program grow so much in my time here.  One of the youth said that the reason he joined the church just started with a small question.  "¿Quieres jugar partido?"  It is amazing how much a simple invitation can open up the heart.

I did feel like this whole week I was in Chiclayo.  I was there 4 times this week, generally for meetings.  Meetings are fun sometimes, but I like using my time visiting family.  I always enjoy visiting people here and talking about the gospel.

I had pizza this week in one of the meetings.  President Risso got Pizza hut for all of us in the meeting and it was fantastic.  I haven't had pizza (real pizza) in so long.  I love the food here, but man I miss a good burger.

I love this area, I love this work, I love the Lord.  I hope that everyone can one day realize how much the Lords loves us.

Elder Perryman

Otra semana en Paraiso

Hola familia,

This week was the baptism of Alberto.  We basically just work with the Young Men's program here and it helps a lot.  I love the picture below with his friend Max.  They are both super great young men and Max will soon follow the example of his friend and be baptized.

This week we visited the cemetery of Ferreñafe.  It is fantastic.  There are statues of the Twelve along the main road and it is all decorated well.  Peruvians have a high regard for there ancestors.

So the sun is super strong here.  Before the mission I thought the climate would be perfect.  But I was unaware of how rare air conditioning is here.  Every night I have the fan on right next to my face.  But luckily fall is coming soon.  It is weird to think that fall is close.

Its super cool to here that Matthew will be joining me in the ranks of Spanish speaking missionaries.  There is a missionary from my zone who is from Chihuahua, Mexico.  I hear that the area is nice and that they keep the missionaries away from any danger.

I am already super excited for conference.  I cannot wait to hear the prophet speak and help me see what I need to do as a missionary. I love being able to tell people, to let them know, that there is a prophet in the world today.  How great of a message.

Love
Elder Perryman