Vagos!

Happy Birthday Grandma Murphy!

I forgot that tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.

With the change there are a bunch of new faces in the zone and now I feel really old.  My companion and I are the oldest by far in the zone.  But because we finish at the same time I am pretty sure that I have one more transfer left, but you never know.

This week we made a list of less active young men from 18-25 years of age and we have been trying to find them all.  The list has about 50 names, so you can see that the work now in Peru is concentrated more on finding less actives.  But I really like working with "potential future missionaries," I would love to have a calling with the young men one day.  The problem is a lot of these young men come from broken homes and they don't realize yet how much the gospel can help them and their families.

I am starting to really love playing soccer.  My companion is a soccer fanatic and he dribbles the ball in our room whenever he is thinking or bored.  Also he cut my hair this week and as a joke he shaved off the sides of my head and left everything else.  But don't worry he fixed it afterward.

I still feel like I am going to be a missionary for the rest of my life.  I feel like I would get lost if I wasn't teaching someone daily.  I love teaching now and I hope that I will be able to do teach in English too someday.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Las Ultimas 12 Semanas! (The Last 12 Weeks!)

So I will be in La Victoria for another change with Elder Cosentino (Buentino).  It is funny because we are from the same group so we just tell people that we are going to finish together.

This week was pretty filled with meetings and planning.  The leadership training was great (as always); we basically spent all the time about baptism.  Also President spoke of how it is hard to speak Spanish and it is hard to speak English, both take practice.  But the most important language we can learn in the mission is the language of the spirit because it will be the most important here and for the rest of our life.

We had our zone conference Friday and I think it well pretty well.  I really like trying to motivate missionaries, but it is something I am still learning how to do.  Most of the conference we did practices and they all went really well.  I really like the missionaries that we have in the zone right now, because it is a group of hard working and obedient missionaries.

This week Henry Rojas went on his mission.  Henry is a great recent convert in the ward who almost always leaves with us.  He has even started to contact and knock doors with us.  He is way more prepared for his mission than I was when I came out.  I wish I had gone out with the missionaries more before.

This week has been good and we have some great families which we have found.  We even found a whole less active family in our area and they want to listen to us.  I know that the true motive of our work is to help all families make it to the temple.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Apostasy!

Elder Cosentino is one of the funniest companions I have had.  He has limited English skills, but he is trying to learn more.  Every time we have an interesting lesson he always says "apostasy" in English, like when someone told us this week that the US President is the devil.

This week I have bumped into one of my favorite members from Ferreñafe twice in the same week.  His name is Brother Tantachuco, and his son always came with us to teach.  Needless to say this was the highlight of my week and he also said that one of my converts is going to the Quito, Ecuador mission.  Sadly Luis, the young man who I taught, comes from a humble background and his parents are not members of the church.  In fact his father is against him going on a mission and won't help his son at all.  It is sad, but it brings me so much joy that in spite of so much opposition Luis wants to serve the Lord.

Also this week we had work visits from the assistants.  The was great because it has been a while since I have worked with Elder Lalli.  I love the mission because I have become fascinated by the scriptures.  When we had finished teaching for the day we went back and continued to talk about doctrine.  Then progressively we talked about how we need to go on a couple double dates after the mission.

Sunday we ate at a members house and they were so nice to us.  I could see they happiness in this small family because they do the small things in the gospel.  I know that eternal happiness is built line upon line and I know that I am on my way to achieve it.

Love,
Elder Perryman


PS:  Yes I have lost weight.  I now work out every morning, eat fruit salad for dinner, and I am trying to cut down on rice.  So now I weigh 80 kg or 176 pounds...I used to weigh 200 pounds.

Recieving Saturday

I feel like in each one of my areas I learn a lot about another religion, because a lot of the people who live their practice it.  In my first area it was Evangelistas, then Catholics and witchcraft, then Jehovah's Witnesses, and now Adventistas.  There are so many here.  We were teaching an Adventist family this week and we didn't realize that we set the appointment for Friday night (or there beginning of the Sabbath day).  So when we got there they offered to say the first prayer to "Receive Saturday" then we taught a lesson on the importance of the sacrament (not the day).

This week Henry, a youth in the ward who has his mission call, has been coming out with us a lot.  We went contacting and I realized how prepared he is for his mission.  He would knock on the doors and start teaching without fear and the people would let him in every time.  The members do so much work here.

Also this week we have found great families.  We taught a family that loves the concept of a modern day prophet and they want to raise their child in a church.  I really hope that the families that we are teaching begin to progress.

We are also working with Martin, who is ready to be baptized, he just needs to give up alcohol.  It breaks my heart to see how sometimes he is so full of hope and other times he loses hope.  I have seen men overcome alcoholism in my mission before, and I know that it can only be done through true conversion.  This is what I hope to see with Martin.

I love you all,
Elder Perryman

Family!!

Another week in a very dusty paradise...we are starting to see more progress in our area and in the zone, but it is always little by little.  But what makes me happier than anything else is that we are starting to find more families.

This week I did a work visit to Chosica.  Chosica the rural part of the zone so it brought back memories of some of my last areas.  It was a good visit and we found two famlies to teach while I was there.  Also two people told me that they thought I was Latino and that made my day.

Another missionary in our  zone went home for health reasons.  He is a great missionary and I hope to see him again in three months.

Elder Cosentino is reading the Book of Mormon in English with me everyday and it is great for two reasons.  I find Latino accents in English the funniest thing on earth and Elder Cosentino is naturally really funny.  But the other more important reason I enjoy reading with him is because we read sloooooow.  It is so important for us to sometimes stop and ponder or take our time reading.  Reading the Book of Mormon should never be like a quick lunch to keep us going in the day, but it should be like a spiritual banquet where we savor each bite.  The is a reason for every word and verse in the Book of Mormon, and we must discover why the prophets inscribed each word.

I hope you all have a great week.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Feliz Dia de la Amistad!!

I don't know if this is a Spanish thing but here in Chiclayo they say "Feliz Dia de la Amistad" which literally means "Happy Friendship Day,"  but I think they say that because Chiclayo is "La Tierra de la Amistad" or "The Land of Friendship."

This week is has been filled with meetings and the next week will be the same.  We had the leadership meeting with President and then a multi-zone conference with president Williams.  This week that is coming up we have a meeting with the stake and our zone training.
My favorite part about being zone leader are the meetings that we have with president.  They are always very spiritual.  But this time he had a practice and he called my companion and I up.  He taught us the importance of always studying Spanish/English in the mission and he said things that really got to my heart.  I know that I have the desire and the ability to learn more languages and I am excited to continue to learn Spanish, even after my mission.

So Thursday was the first day that we really started to work in the week and all we wanted to do was find new families.  We had our prayers answered and we taught a handful of complete families this week.  We even taught a family that already has a book of Mormon and they want to know why there are so many churches.  I know that the Lord has his hand in our work.

We taught Alberto this week and he understood more of the lesson, but he once again said that a couple of the books in the new testament are "more or less".  He suffered from a stroke so sometimes he forgets a lot of the basic things, which scared me about him coming to church, but he ended up coming early and walked in waving at everyone with his hands above his heads.

Also this week I taught Elder Cosentino the word "sketchy" because it doesn't even exist in Spanish.  He made me laugh so many time this week because we would be walking in the street pointing out things as "sketchy" and at the end of the day he just said "Peru is sketchy."

I have realized that I have so many things that I need to do before my mission, yet so little time.  I know that I can't waste a second.  I am excited to keep working here with Elder Cosentino Buentino and to make the most out of every second.

Love,
Elder Perryman

Elder Cosentino Buentino!

My New companion is Elder Cosentino from Argentina!  He is from my MTC group, which means that we go home the same day.  He is super funny and a fanatic of soccer.  He doesn't know English (very well), but we read the Book of Mormon together in English.  It is going to be another good change here in La Victoria.

Mom to answer your question, the people here in Peru are a very happy people.  But it is true what you said, there is racism.  In Cajamarca you could see it a lot more than here on the coast.  Also People just yell "Chino," "Negro," or "Colorado" in the street or even as a term of affection.  And yes I clean my shoes daily, but there is a lot of dirt here.

When we were out contacting the other day we knocked on a door and a kid came out (they always send there kids to say that no one is home).  The little kid said "my mom went to the market" and my companion told him "ask your mom when she is coming back."  The kid didn't quite catch what Elder Cosentino said, so he went to ask his mom and when he came back he said "my mom says later."  I couldn't help but laugh at this.

Also this week we visited Wilder and his wife.  Wilder was explaining to us how he hasn't been able to go to church for a while because of his job.  Wilder is a big, burly teddy bear, but his job keeps them from being an eternal family.  He is trains chickens for cock fighting and there are about 100 reasons why this is against the teachings of Jesus Christ.  But we just taught them "The Family: A Proclamation for the World" and explained to him how important it is to be sealed in the temple.  We asked him what he would be willing to sacrifice to obtain and eternal family and without hesitation he said "my job."  It was sad, but the spirit was strong.  This moment was a testimony to me that there is no sacrifice to great to have an eternal family.

A sister from our zone is also going home today because she fractured her foot.  I am so thankful that nothing has happened to me on my mission.  Because I am very grateful for every second.

I have started to memorize "The Family" in Spanish and it is really helping.  The mission has changed to focus so much on the family and I am incredibly blessed for this.  It has helped me think a lot about how much I must prepare now to become the best Father possible one day.

I love you all,
Elder Perryman