WEEK 20: Celebrations Continue

Several children at the Internet house today wanted to practice their English with Rachel

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Our Christmas here was very great - full of sun and Christmas festivities.

On Christmas Eve, we went and visited some of the people in our ward - including our recent converts in this area. We brought them some cookies that we had made in our apartment. Let me just say that my cooking abilities definitely leave something to be desired. But enough sugar and anything tastes at least a little good. 

We spent the evening at another member's house who had prepared a nice spread of turkey, chicken, and rice with raisins. It was all really great. Spending time with that family was really fun. We ate a lot, talked a lot, watched some families open gifts, and played soccer in the street. We were basically just waiting for the fireworks that usually begin around midnight. It was really cool being here and experiencing the Christmas spirit in another way. 

Christmas day was spent visiting more members. They are all really great and willing to give us lots of food around this time. We ate lots of great food, including some fried pork bits, which several pieces of skin still had little hairs sticking out. With some of these things, you just need to throw it into your mouth and try not to think about what it is. In this case, it was actually really good. 

It was a little difficult this week to meet up with our investigators because everyone here in Brazil is on their equivalent of summer vacation until the beginning of February. So a ton of people here went to the interior of Ceara to see family. That made for slower work, but we were able to teach a lot and meet lots of great new people. 

For now, we are preparing for another week like that, as everyone is getting ready for the new year. But we are striving here in the area and I am glad to be receiving the blessings of this service. 

Elder Perry

Christmas Eve celebrating

Elder Perry and Elder Makino bake cookies

WEEK 19: Feliz Natal!

Elder Perry and friends at the ward Christmas party

Hello everybody! I hope you're all doing well and enjoying a great Christmas season. I must say that I am missing the snow and hot chocolate while working here in the heat of Fortaleza. 

But anyway, lots of great work here. We have been meeting with one family that has been coming to church with us the last couple of weeks. They include the sister and friends of one other member in our ward, so it has been really great teaching them all together. They are all committed to learn more and they have accepted baptismal dates. We are going to keep working to get them baptized. 

Lots of great Christmas festivities here as well. We had our Christmas party on Friday night with the ward - with lots of food and partying. I was able to play the song "You Raise Me Up" with one other Elder from the district singing -- per request of the Relief Society President. So that was interesting. I enjoyed it. And on Sunday, I was able to play for the stake choir which was pretty fun. We played a bunch of Christmas hymns, which was really great. I am grateful that I am able to bless the ward with that talent. 

That about wraps it up for this week. Just enjoying the heat and the happiness of the people here. Love you all! 

Elder Perry

The Guararapes Ward Christmas Party

A gift from the ward to Elder Perry and Elder Makino

Elder Perry and another Elder with stake choir members
(Red bowtie "costumes" provided by the Stake Choir Director)

WEEK 18: I Don't Know if There'll Be Snow...But Have a Cup of Guarana

Elder Perry's District

Another incredibly hot and work-filled week here in Fortaleza. Lots of great people we have been meeting this week and lots of great new contacts. It has all been really great and. as always, quite warm. As the missionaries say down here: The warmer the climate, the warmer the hearts of the people. 

This week ended my second transfer here in the field and I have officially ended my training. I am going to stay this next transfer in the same area, Gurararapes A with Elder Makino. So as far as the area and the companion goes, nothing will change for me this next transfer. I am looking forward to the work and the success that we will have in this area over the next 6 weeks. We have a lot of people ready and being prepared to be baptized, so I look forward to getting this work done.  

This last week, I was able to do a transfer with one of our zone leaders, who is actually heading back for Utah tomorrow. We were able to meet with a few people, and a few of the members that he baptized or met when he passed through this area towards the beginning of his mission here. That was a pretty cool experience. He, like all of the other older people here in the mission, really only give one piece of advice: "Passa rapido" or "It passes fast." Grateful for all the people who constantly remind me that I will not be leaving this year, nor in the next, but the one after that. Those reminders should stop once we reach 2020. (Sorry if that doesn't make any sense)

Lots of sun but even more sunscreen here for me. It really does feel like every day it is getting hotter. BUT, some days it does start to rain in the morning before clearing for more sun in the afternoon. That is always really nice. I feel like I have adjusted to it quite a bit now. The cold showers have started to grow on me. Being here has made me appreciate how great the white Christmases were back in UT. 

Also more piano playing responsibilities for me! Now that everyone knows that I will be spending one more transfer here, I have been assigned to be the official pianist for the new ward, Dunas, and I will be playing with our stake choir for our Sunday Christmas meeting in one week. Needless to say, quite a bit of practice will be required of me this week. I look forward to using my talents to bless the people here in these wards. I really have been enjoying using the piano to serve. 

That's just about it for this week. The work continues and I have been loving it all. Thank you all for the love and support. 

Love,

Elder Perry

One of many giant frogs in Fortaleza

WEEK 17: At Least the Baptismal Font Water is Cold....

Elder Perry and Fernanda at her baptism

Another week of great work here in the Guararapes ward. We were able to get a lot of great things done this week and teach a ton of people. The work here is wonderful.

This last Saturday I had the privilege to baptize our good friend, Fernanda. She is 15 years old and has been going to church with us for a little while now. She is very close friends with the other young women in the ward. I felt the spirit so strongly there at her baptism. It was really quite amazing to see how far she had come and how much she had grown spiritually to reach this point. We are now working on getting her mother baptized in the coming weeks.

This last Thursday was our mission conference. Dubbed “Conferencia 2020” because apparently we are not allowed to have a mission-wide Christmas conference. But that was a cool experience -- getting to see all of the missionaries serving here. Seeing some of the new missionaries who just arrived served to remind me just how fast this mission is going by. It was in the gigantic 5-story chapel again, so that was pretty neat. It was really cool to see everyone from my CTM district as well.

The rest of this week was full of hard work. Finding and teaching people. Elder Makino and I have been able to connect really well with the young people in this ward, so that has helped tremendously with getting references, and continually finding new people to teach.

The heat continues. Every day feels a little hotter than the last. But lots of sunscreen and my Indiana Jones hat have helped quite a bit. Someone told me this last week that I would be great as a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. Not sure if that was a compliment or what.

I am absolutely loving the work here and all of these great people. Over these first 4 months of the mission, I have really grown a deep and meaningful relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Every day, devoted to his service, standing here as a representative of Him has really brought me closer to Christ than ever before.

Elder Perry

Elder Perry's CTM district reunion at the Fortaleza Mission Conference

Jack finally got his Christmas package!

WEEK 16: Thanksgiving in Brazil

Mais uma semana! Still alive and well here in Fortaleza. And baking here in the sun. The heat here during the night when the sun has gone down is basically the equivalent to midday summer in Utah. It’s pretty brutal. But, I use sunscreen every day as well as the now signature hat. 

We had some good work this week. We have been preparing some people to be baptized coming up this Saturday, so that is pretty exciting. We also received a couple of references from now recent convert, Gleiciane. She has a couple of friends in the neighborhood who are interested in going to church and learning from us. We were able to talk to one of them briefly and we are setting up times to meet with them this week. That is always great, receiving references as opposed to going out and knocking on every door. 

My piano responsibilities have now expanded to a stake-wide level. Apparently there is only one other ward in this stake of like 6 wards who has a pianist. I am the pianist now for our main ward, Guararapes. But because of the ward split, part of our area is in area Dunas, so Makino and I attend that ward also. I am the pianist in that ward as well. I have also been called upon to play in the ward Christmas performance on the 20th. And yesterday I was asked to accompany for the Guararapes Ward’s primary program this coming Sunday. It’s a little stressful because I don’t have a lot of time to practice with all of the work we are doing, and the chapel is a good 20 minute walk from our area. We’ll see how it goes. I know that relying on the Lord is really the only way I will be able to get all of these things done. 

I also convinced the Brazilian elders in our district of the importance of eating a ton on Thanksgiving (even thought they don’t celebrate that holiday). So Makino and I went and bought a bucket of fried chicken from KFC. That was one of the strangest experiences, eating an American meal here in Brazil. So good. Also, we got to celebrate a little Black Friday over at the local Sam’s club. I’m pretty sure this area is one of the few with such American commodities. Got some ketchup, Doritos, and Nutella. Never have I felt more American here in Brazil. But things are all great and we are continuing to work hard. 

As always, I am loving the work and the people I am serving here in Fortaleza. 

Elder Perry

WEEK 15: Sweet/Sweat Is The Work

Elder Perry on splits teaching investigators

Another hot and humid week here in Fortaleza.

We were able to get a lot of things done this week. Talking with lots of investigators and making more contacts. I have learned that you can never have too many investigators. We spent quite a bit of time in one young man’s house, because we were preparing him to get baptized on Saturday. Everything was great, he was accepting the lessons, and he did great on the pre-interview. But when Saturday rolled around and we went to interview, he said he didn’t want to be baptized anymore. Pretty devastating because we were all prepared for the baptism that day. We are pretty sure someone in his family said something to him that scared him, so we are going to try to work on him again this week. But overall, that was a pretty tough experience.

This week we were able to celebrate the birthday of our district leader, Elder Lopes. He had insisted on all of us going to Johnny Rockets to celebrate. It was a little strange to enter a restaurant that had such an American atmosphere. We had some ice cream and everyone came around and sang to him. That was a strange experience -- feeling American again. We also celebrated Elder Lopes’s birthday in an investigator’s apartment, on the 19th (penultimate) floor overlooking the ocean. That was a little insane. Not to mention what we ate. There were two large pots of rice with some meat inside. I scooped some out for myself like everyone else was doing, and happened to get a large meaty item in my spoon. Happened to be some nice looking chicken feet. There was a lot of bone and not a whole lot of meat. Just mostly some cartilage. Not going to lie, I am not really a fan.

I played the piano again in sacrament meeting. It usually goes pretty smoothly, but some rough patches because I never know what hymns I’m going to have to play. But it’s already become that time where I have to start practicing the Christmas hymns. This Sunday was the Portuguese version of “Ôh Come, All Ye Faithful.” I was also asked to play the piano for the ward´s Christmas program on December 20th. The president of the Relief Society would like me to play on the piano “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban, while the other American in our ward, Elder Haddock, sings. So for now, I am looking for the music online and hoping I don’t get transferred,or don’t get transferred too far from here when the transfer ends on the 16th.

The work here is really great. We do have a full spread of investigators, even when some of our baptisms are falling. We should have a couple more this coming Saturday.

One spiritual thing really quick for all of you. What I have been trying to work on lately is reading the New Testament with an emphasis on using the examples and teachings of Jesus Christ to make me a better missionary. It has been helping a ton. I know you all are probably almost done with the New Testament right now, but I know that following his example will help us to improve in whatever we are doing. I know that this gospel is true, and that it has the power to change lives. I also know that our Heavenly Father is preparing people specifically for us to teach, but it is our responsibility to find them.

Elder Perry

A rare lunch outing at KFC

Brazilian bats everywhere

WEEK 14: GurarAGUA!

This last Saturday, Elder Makino and I had the privilege to baptize our good friends Gleiciane and Elvis. This baptism was actually several weeks in the making but we finally came through this weekend! 

I was able to baptize Elvis (named after THE Elvis) and Makino baptized Gleiciane. I must say it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Thinking back to our first moments finding and teaching them, watching people progress in the gospel that way is truly remarkable. It was an incredible experience and one that I will never forget. 

Because we had our joint conference Sunday with our ward splitting, Elivs and Gleiciane were also confirmed on Saturday night right after the baptism took place. The baptism was definitely the highlight of the week, but this week had some good work and some good food too. 

We have continued making contacts and setting more and more baptismal dates. If everything goes well, we should have 2 more baptisms next Saturday and at least one this coming Saturday. I have come to realize quite well that God really is preparing people to receive His sacred message. The only thing is, we need to be willing to put in the work to find them. 

We ate very well this week. Had some nice “carne do sol” or “meat of the sun” which was very tasty. Lots of other unrecognized meats, beans, and rice. And lots of Coca Cola. Because it is so cheap, everyone seems to have a 2 liter there at lunch. I have grown to like it quite a bit. 

I also learned an interesting thing about soccer here in Brazil. Just about everywhere, there are small courts where kids play (usually without shoes) pickup games of soccer. Some look intense, and others look friendly, but they are all fiercely competitive. From what people have told me, there are sometimes people who come as scouts from pro teams, and look for kids playing in the streets who show promise, and they are offered a spot on a development team. Pretty sweet. So I have learned that every game played could be a potential tryout. Gotta get ready, because I’m about to enter Brazil’s first division. Just kidding. 

I love you all and testify of the happiness of this gospel. I have felt it stronger this week than ever before in my life. 

Elder Perry

Celebrating a birthday

"Missionary Work" sometimes includes cleaning church bathrooms 

WEEK 13: The Endless Summer Continues

Elder Perry (with hat) in his apartment

Another great week of hard work here in Fortaleza. Sometimes, I think the work wouldn't feel nearly as hard if the sun would let up for a couple minutes. But I've been trying to adjust to the heat and humidity the best I can. I've been wearing my hat quite a bit, and it has started to give me a reputation with people in the neighborhood. They sometimes refer to me as the "tall white man with the funny hat." I have earned some other endearing nicknames here as well including "Jack Sperry" and "Paris."

I think I am finally worthy to be considered a Brazilian! I bought a hammock! Lots of people here sleep in hammocks, because they're pretty comfortable and generally cheaper than a bed. I tried last night, and it's going to take some adjustments to start hammock sleeping. 

The food here continues to impress me as well. We have eaten some fish based dishes finally, which seems to be a staple here in Fortaleza, being so close to the ocean. People have said that the crab and shrimp here are also really good, but we haven't had the chance to eat any of that yet. I think it might be a little expensive, so we´ll have to wait and see. 

We had stake conference this week! All 3 of our wards gathered together in the chapel across the street from the temple. I think there was probably about 350-400 people there! Very strong crowd. There were also some Americans who came and spoke to all of us. A few of them were older men, who had served some of the first missions here in Fortaleza. They talked about how it was amazing to see the growth of the church in this area. I feel blessed to be a part of the continuous growth that this area. Our stake president said something pretty profound that I´ll share with you here: "You can count the amount of seeds within an apple. But you can´t count the amount of apples that one seed can produce."

As of now, we are preparing for our first baptism for this coming Saturday! Glecianie and Elvis are both getting ready for that date and we may have one other who could be ready for that day. We are going to keep working hard and getting them ready. I have felt more blessed than ever finding and teaching these people and helping them follow the example of Jesus Christ.

There are some points out here in the field where I think, "Wow, no one could possibly imagine the things I am seeing right now." Some really crazy stuff but mostly beautiful things. We continue to work! 

Elder Perry

WEEK 12: Honestly the Fastest Week

Getting ready to board one of the Church buses

I think it’s funny that you keep hearing this from me, but this was honestly the fastest week in the field. The difference is that now, we have so many people we are teaching and visiting. Here, I’ll name them for you: Glecianie, Elvis, Almir, Nivea, Carla, Elaita, Fatchma, Raisa, Estephanie, Patricia, Evelyn, Carlos, Miguel, Pricilla, Rute, Junior, Juan, Joaquin, Celia... and a lot more; that’s just all I’m able to think of right this second. So yeah, a lot of people! We have also started trying to make appointments or visits with less active members or recent converts. So we have been very busy. Asking for references from people has also created a nice network around here, so we have had to do little contacting and are still finding many people who are receptive to our message. That has been very helpful.

Halloween was this week! It is not really celebrated here, but I bought a bag of candy and gave some out to little kids in the street. It was also a sort of “Day of the Dead” holiday on Saturday. It’s not really a holiday, it’s just a day when everyone goes to a cemetery for basically the whole day. So that was kind of different.

With the end of my first transfer, we had 2 new elders come into our district. Elder Ball and Elder Duque were replaced by Elder Lopes and Elder Fiorovante. They are both great, and will be a great asset to the district. Elder Lopes is our new DL, and has been great taking up the torch and leading us here.

Our ward is really getting stronger here (Ward Guararapes in the Dunas Stake). I played the piano again in church. And the closing prayer. haha. Our chorister doesn’t call to tell me the hymns anymore so my first glimpse of what the hymns will be is at exactly 10:00 when the meeting is starting, and the people (including me) who were on the always-late bus are entering the chapel! I just kind of pray that they are hymns that I know. If they’re not, I do my best. I am able to sight read all of them, except one: Castelo Forte. It is a hymn that is only in the Portuguese hymnal. I cannot play it to save my life. I am just hoping that they don’t ask me to play that one.

Nothing too crazy in the food department this week. We do in fact, have rice and beans for every single meal. There are a few smaller restaurants around here that sell `salgados´ which are small, meat filled pastries. A few of these places sell the salgados for only 1 Real, so naturally, that´s where we end up going. It is so great. There is actually a family who owns one who will be going to church with us pretty soon.

I am loving the work and service here in Brazil. This country really is beautiful, and the people are all so friendly and nice. I am eager and happy to be blessed with such an incredible opportunity.

Elder Perry

Acai bowls are a favorite evening treat

WEEK 11: Time is Flying By plus Zone Conference in a Really Tall Chapel

View of Fortaleza

Guess what, I’m still alive! It has been another very, very fast week. It was so great. We are finally collecting some fruit from all of our labors.

Zone conference was this week! It was really great. I’m not sure exactly why, but we had 4 zones gathered together for our zone conference. We all met in the chapel of this one area - surrounded by buildings. The chapel was 5 stories high, no joke. I think I heard someone say that it is the Church’s tallest chapel in the world. Crazy. We had our meeting on the first floor, and then climbed up to the 5th floor for lunch. We were also very lucky because all 8 of us from our CTM district were in the 4 zones making up our zone conference, so that was cool to see all of them again. We learned a lot there and it was great to see everyone.

This week we were able to make a lot more contacts, and have been working really hard. These days are a lot easier when we are teaching lessons more often than we are just walking around trying to find people to teach. We were finally able to set baptismal dates with Glacianie and Elvis - who are both very firm. So, they will probably be baptized on November 9th!

This week also concluded my first transfer out in the field. Of our district of 6, 2 are leaving us. Elder Duque, our district leader is off to be a zone leader in Oeste and Elder Ball is off to Calcaia. Our district was really tight, so it is hard to say goodbye, but they are going to go do great things.

My time here in Brazil has been flying by, so I have been trying to take into practice the advice that says, “Treat every week of your mission like it is your last.”

Love,
Elder Perry

CTM district reunion

Elder Perry and Elder Makino out making contacts

WEEK 10: Best Week Yet!

Elder Perry with friends on their way to church

This has probably been the best and most successful week of the mission. Also full of some very hard and very tiring work but it has all been wonderful.

Baratas anyone…? Yes, our apartment was sprayed this week for cockroaches. No, I am not claiming any responsibility for it. The exterminators came in quickly, did their job, left, and the roaches came out to play. The super big ones all crawled out onto the floor and died, but the smaller ones continued running around the sink area. After some serious work we took care of them. Mostly. But things are a lot cleaner now. A bit of a scarring experience I would say.

The work here has been great this week. We did some more work out in Caca e Pesca, where things are much more humble. It is a little surreal at times, walking around the favelas. It all looks like it’s straight out of a movie. Houses with red adobe shingles on top, sidewalks and roads of sand, chickens and roosters walking around, the occasional donkey or band of goats, and of course, the beach 5 minutes walking. It is really quite incredible.

We marked some baptismal dates and had some fall this week. But that’s the way things go around here. We found 2 sisters, one of which was looking for a church to join. We went and taught them the first lesson, and they seemed to really enjoy it and said that they would attend church with us. The next day, when we arrived at their house, they said that they had no interest in learning more.

We also found a really great family. One day when Makino and I were walking down the street, we ran into this woman named Patricia. She was super nice and happy and we marked a date to return. After looking for several days (because her part of Caca e Pesca has no street signs, or even really house numbers) we found it. She was very excited to see us again and invited us inside to meet her 5 children. They were all super nice and happy as well. It was very humbling to walk into their house. Only one queen sized mattress for 6 people and very, very tight quarters. I can’t describe fully the spirit I felt being in that house with them. We taught them the first lesson as well and they accepted everything very well. They were not able to attend church with us this week, but they said they would certainly attend with us next week. Yessssss.

The food this week was superb as always. There wasn’t anything too crazy. We had some goat meat a couple more times. The taste is amazing but it is super hard to chew. Sunday we went to lunch at a member’s house who is a professional chef. He prepared rice, beans, spaghetti, french fries, potato casserole, salad, and a whole tray full of meat. For 4 of us. I won’t lie, I ate 4 whole plates. So good. The food coma after, also very nice. I have come to enjoy rice and beans quite a bit after eating them every single day. I feel incomplete during the days when we don’t eat them now.

I have been officially called to be the ward organist! It is brutal. Yesterday, I had to play a hymn that I had never heard before in my life. I think the title translates literally to “Don’t Leave Harsh Words.” It’s Hymn 138 in the Portuguese hymnal if you want to look it up. So as you can imagine, a little stressful. Not only that, but I have been practicing playing the piano with the stake choir and we have stake conference coming up. I think they have an official pianist, but I need to be prepared. I have also been asked to play the piano for our zone conference this week and possibly for our mission Christmas meeting. I’m so glad I said that I play the piano.

The work here is going well and I am loving Brazil and loving this service!

Elder Perry

Elder Perry with uplifting wall art

Elder Perry with his companion and other area Elders

WEEK 9: Finding Beauty in Everything

Elder Perry and Elder Makino at the beach (not ON the beach)

Hello everybody! Another week done here in Fortaleza. The time seems to be going by so quickly now. Those first few weeks of just looking for people to teach, walking miles and miles in the heat, clapping at doors, were excruciating. But now, we've gotten into a bit of a groove and have found some more people to teach, so that has been great.

This week, we were able to set 2 baptismal dates. Both with older women, who were both very accepting of our messages. Sometimes, I'm not sure if they're fully understanding everything, because usually they just have a distant look in their eyes, and say "sim" to everything. But they both have said "ëu aceito" or "Ï accept" so... hopefully that yields some fruit. They have been with Celia and Socorro, who are always taking care of little children when we come by their homes. So that has been wonderful.

On Tuesday, our member who was going to provide us lunch had forgotten, and gave us each some money to go buy something. Feeling rich, the senior comps hailed an uber and took me and Elder Haddock to Dallas Grill. Imagine Chuck-A-Rama, but all-you-can-eat Brazilian meats as well. A lot of American food, sushi, salad, fruit, you name it. The place had a really cool vibe. So the 4 of us sat there and ate and ate and ate. It was so great. Needless to say, the final bill was a little larger than we imagined, but we were able to pay it off without any problems. Mostly.

We had a couple of cool days this week as well. On Wednesday, we did a "Divisao"with Elder Duque and Elder Haddock. I was Duque's senior companion for the day, and we went around and mostly contacted in our area. That was fun. The contacting has gotten a lot more interesting for me because I am finally able to understand nearly 100% of what people are saying and am able to respond. It was on that split with Duque when we found Celia. Nice. Then on Saturday, Makino and I did some work with Paulo, a young man in the ward. He was very helpful. He showed us some of the houses of his nonmember friends who we are going to teach this coming week.

Anyway, lots of good work this week. Finding people who will fully accept the gospel and be baptized is not always super easy, but I have felt day after day the benefits and blessings that come from hard work. We were really all over the map. From bible discussions, to eating Acai, to passing by untamed animals, to seeing the ocean. I have learned to find beauty in everything, because this country truly is beautiful.

Elder Perry

Casa E Pesca, one of the neighborhoods in Elder Perry's area

Parque Estadual do Coco

WEEK 8: Another Week, Another Real

Elder Perry with new Brazilian friends

Ola! This week was significantly better than the last. Elder Makino and I have started to gel and we have gotten to know the area quite well. We also have a list of all the members in the ward, which has been seriously helpful also. We have actually been able to teach quite a few lessons, and are working hard to get some baptisms. Also, conference happened. We have to talk about that too.

Our task that we will be working on this week will be one young man named Brendo. The missionaries before us had already taught him many of the lessons, and he says that he wants to be baptized, but right now his dad does not want him to be baptized. We are going to visit with him with another family that had similar doubts, who are now all baptized, to help him understand a little more, so that he will allow Brendo to be baptized.

Our other investigators include Silvia, and her daughter Dianie. They are both great. Silvia is always trying to feed us food and give us Coke. The other night, we arrived at their house, ready to teach about the restoration, when they quickly invited us in and took us to the back of the house. They were cooking all this meat on this grill, and pouring cups of Coca Cola. They made us sit down and eat unhealthily large portions of this mystery meat. As I have learned here, if you try to deny any food, the immediate response is, “You don’t like it….” I later learned that it was in fact goat meat. But after eating all that, they offered us sweet bananas that had been completely charred on the grill. They actually tasted pretty good. Some of the other people at the house started drinking large amounts of alcohol after that, and started rubbing the charred banana peels on their faces to make mustaches. Once they approached us, we decided that that was our cue to leave. We left a pamphlet with them to read, and will be returning later this week to follow up.

Another story this week is about Carlos. He was one of the first young men we met here in the area who had not yet been baptized. His house was really small, but he lived in there with his parents, and 8 younger siblings. Every time we would go to his house, we would be greeted by at least 5 of them. We taught Carlos a little, and invited him to be baptized. He accepted our date and we left. We came back the next day, and he wasn’t there. The next day, we talked to him, and he said he hadn’t read, and his dad came out and said Carlos wasn’t interested. So that was a real bummer. But, we were not deterred.

One last really cool experience. Our area is fortunately really diverse. We have “Cidade 2000” and the “Barreiros” which are a little more wealth, and a little less, respectively. One day, after growing tired of walking, Makino and I decided to make another trip to the Barreiros to do some contacting. (The walk from our apartment to this area is probably 25-30 minutes). But we started knocking on doors. A few people would respond, but a majority of the homes were empty. We walked down one street, past a few people sitting on the side of the road, to this home of a man who we could see inside. We gave him the basic church invitation, which he said “maybe” to, just like basically everyone else. But during this, I noticed one of the people across the street watching us talk to this man. Once Elder Makino had wrapped up, he turned and started walking down the road in the opposite direction of the people watching. I told him to wait, and we walked over and talked to them. The woman who had been watching us is named Glaciani. She was sitting with her friend, who is a hardcore Catholic. Her friend seemed really angry that we were talking with them, but Glaciani was very kind and said that she would attend church with us…maybe. Two days later, we felt impressed to stop by her house. When we did, she greeted us very warmly, and let us sit down. She lives currently with her husband, and her 14 year old son. She told us that she was born and raised Catholic, but had always felt like it was wrong. She said that she had tried to visit many other churches, but they all felt wrong also. We taught her the first lesson and she ate it all up. She was so excited when we gave her a Book of Mormon, and wrote our testimonies in it for her. She said that she wants us to return to teach some more when her husband and son are both home to hear our message. I cannot wait to see the progression of this family.

Anyway, that’s about all for now. We are also going to try to teach a really old woman named “Socorro” which translates to “relief” in English. It would be great to see Socorro in the “Sociedade de Socorro.” We have a few more leads, and plan on dishing out a few more baptismal dates this week.

About conference... my favorite talk was probably Elder Uchtdorf’s during the Sunday morning (afternoon here) session. And not just because he talked about The Hobbit. This life, the mission, everything has its own path that we must try to follow, all with the intention of returning home with a great reward. Despite the trolls, orcs, goblins, and dragon, we will be protected in everything we do. So yeah, definitely my favorite. Also, I am already getting hyped for the super secret special general conference in 6 months... Who else??

I love you all! I love this work!
Elder Perry

P.S. Also, shoutout to Elias Stewart, who is leaving to the MTC this week. Good luck, you'll be a great missionary! (Hopefully your time down in Provo doesn't mess with your head too much!)

Elder Perry & the Fortaleza Temple

Elder Perry & Elder Makino with more friends

WEEK 7: First Week in Fortaleza

Elder Perry and the other new missionaries arrive in Fortaleza

Ola! Eu amo voces. First week here in the field has been pretty crazy. Also, extremely hard and rewarding. My trainer for the first 3 months here is Elder Makino. He is from Brasilia, and has been out on his mission for 9 months. He, no matter what is happening here, has a really positive attitude about everything. He also really helps me with the language, because usually I have no idea what the kids are saying. They always use so much slang. Our area is called “Guararapes A.” It is the same zone as the Fortaleza temple and the temple is right across the street from our ward building. Super cool stuff.

The only thing is, the most ready people here (in this area) to be baptized are the “rapazes” (young men). They are all really awesome. I have met so far two named Levi, Paulo, Brendo, and a few others. They have all been super nice, and for the most part they refrain from making fun of my Portuguese.

This first week here for me has also been the first week in this area for Elder Makino. The missionaries who just left this area left us with 2 addresses of people who weren’t interested when we went past, and beneath that it just said “Friend of Carla” and that’s basically it. Not sure how that worked out, because neither of us know where any of the members are. Because we have no contacts or anything, we are basically just walking around trying to get contacts by talking with people in the street, and knocking (clapping) at doors. Neither of these methods are super effective. We had a few families we planned on visiting this week, but they either failed to answer, or a menino would come out and say their parents weren’t home. It was muito chato. But, we have been getting anywhere from 40 to 60 contacts a day. On Friday, we got 8 addresses of people to visit. We are working on that now. We plan on getting more lessons taught once we know where the ward members live and getting references from them. Hopefully that will help move the work along.

I understand more and more of what people are saying to me every day. The first day hit me like a wall of bricks. The accent of people here is a little different than people in Sao Paulo, but I have been able to adjust. Elder Makino has been teaching me all the slang phrases they use. Another thing that is really funny here is that after basically any phrase most kids and some adults will append the word “man.” One phrase that Elder Makino always says to me is “ô cara man” which translates to “the face,” which means “the best.” It’s a weird translation, but that’s how most of the slang here is. So, “ô cara man” it is.

Every day there is a ward member who is designated to feed us lunch. We have a little schedule that tells us where we go. The lunch meals are always really good. It’s hard to eat so much, because you can always tell that our lunches are the best meals that they prepare. The members live in very humble circumstances, but are always willing to give us everything they have. I am also fortunate enough to be in the same ward as Elder Haddock from my CTM district, so our companionships always get lunch together. It is very “legal” (or nice).

Some days when a member who is supposed to feed us isn’t doing too hot, they give us a couple bucks to get a meal for ourselves. The other day (Saturday), this happened. We got the money, bought a 2 liter coke at the grocery store, and walked into this open restaurant down the street. It was kind of a self-serve thing with beans and rice, and then a woman serving meats at the far end. The meats all looked pretty strange, so when it got to me and Elder Haddock, we both pointed at this relatively normal looking orange meat, which the lady gave us plenty of. We sat down, and Elder Haddock’s companion started laughing at us for some reason. He said it was nothing, so we just kept eating. Partway through the meal, he asked us, “Do you know what that is?” in reference to the orange meat we were eating. We told him no, he laughed again, and proceeded to tell us that it was cow stomach. Delicious. Needless to say, I had almost eaten all of it at that time, but I wasn’t able to finish it. Elder Haddock felt the same way. I’m fairly certain that it is called panelada or something like that.

Yesterday, Sunday, was my first here in Fortaleza. We got to finally meet all the members of the ward. They are all super nice. Basically all of us drove over together in this really old looking bus. It was pretty weird, because I really didn’t know what was going on. But we got a really nice view of the ocean. I will try to get a picture of it next week. Anyway, the bus showed up a little late to the meeting - and we entered right at the beginning of the sacrament hymn. Directly after the sacrament, the bishop said that all of us 3 new missionaries would be going up to the pulpit to introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies. A little freaky given the quick turnaround after arriving, but it went pretty well in my opinion. Also, it appears that our ward doesn’t have anyone who plays the piano... so I played the closing hymn. Looks like I’m going to need a little time during the week to practice.

I love Brazil. I love you all. I love this work.

Elder Perry

Elder Perry and Elder Makino

Looking for contacts in Fortaleza

Elder Perry and Elder Makino (sent to David via Instagram!)

WEEK 6 (Part 2): Final Week at the CTM

Elder Perry's CTM district prepares to fly to Fortaleza

Para o campo! Hello everybody! This week was my last one here in the CTM. It was definitely the hardest week here. We were teaching 3 or 4 practice lessons every day, which was pretty mentally exhausting. We have been working on adapting the lesson as we are teaching, which has proved to be rather difficult. But as of now, everyone in the district seems ready and optimistic to go out into the field tomorrow (September 24th).

This week had some highlights too. Last P day, Wednesday, the district all went out and got haircuts. There is this really small barbershop that is about a block from the CTM where everyone goes on p days. This really nice old guy cut my hair, but also his finger in the process. It was bleeding profusely, but he went on, giving me updates every once in a while as my hair got all over his cut. Kind of weird, but it was great. Great experience.

Things got nice and cool here in Sao Paulo this week too. After days of scorching heat, it was nice to feel the breeze. We were actually able to open up our window during the night, and use our covers. That was the nicest feeling. It was so great to finally feel that. And then we checked the electronic board to see the temperature in Fortaleza - 96 degrees at like 5 pm. I am not looking forward to those nights. Just kidding.

For now, I am getting ready to start working out in the field. Constantly studying the scriptures and practicing Portuguese is what I’ve been doing. And teaching lots of lessons. I look forward to applying all of that practice to the real people in Fortaleza. But now I am officially done at the CTM. I can’t wait to start sending you all updates about the work in Fortaleza! Eu amo voces, e estou animado para comecar trabalhando!

Love, Elder Perry

Last CTM pizza party

WEEK 6: Fortaleza!

I am alive and well here in Fortaleza finally. It was a bit of a crazy day. We woke up at like 4:00 AM to drive to the airport at Campinas and fly out to Fortaleza. When we arrived and were sitting there at the terminal, we were just waiting for like an hour. And then another, and they had to move us all to another plane. It was super weird. Then a 3 hour flight next to Elder Gygi which was great. We met the APs - Elder Haslam and Elder Fernandes. They are both great, and we met with some of the other secretaries at the airport as well. It was way cool. It was also very very hot. And humid. Now we are out at the main ward building for some training and then dinner with the mission president. I don´t have much time to email. But I will send you this week´s email and next on our P day (Monday). I love you all!

Love, Elder Perry

WEEK 5: Oi! One Week To Go at the CTM

Last Temple Visit for Elder Perry's CTM District (Sao Paulo Temple)

Oi! I hope you are all doing well! This last week at the CTM has been mostly the same as all the others. Classes all day every day. Nearly every meal is an identical helping of rice and beans. Actually, last night we had soggy hotdogs. It was the best.

This last week has been incredibly hot here in Sao Paulo. Last P-day (Wednesday) was close to 100 degrees all afternoon, and that is our only day of the week to go walk around outside the CTM. So that was great. The fans kept turning on and off on the bus ride, so we were all cooking in there. Just imagine 50 sweaty missionaries, in a 100 degree oven for an hour and a half. It was brutal. But the P- day nap never disappoints.

We have new roommates now! Elder Yamaguchi, who is from Sao Paulo and speaks Portuguese, and Elder Fogg, who is from Idaho and speaks English and Spanish. They are both great. I have loved practicing my Portuguese with them.

As a district, we have been working on speaking only Portuguese when we are together. We have been doing mock lessons several times a day now, so that is great, but we are all improving in our Portuguese a ton. It has been great learning here. We also get to sit and talk with many native Brazilian speakers during meals. There are people there from all over South America, and also many from Africa too. They all have pretty amazing stories. But most of my conversations with them end up being about soccer. Almost every meal the Messi vs. Ronaldo debate is brought up. Fortunately, most people here have their heads screwed on well enough to side with the GOAT - Messi.

We passed through some major difficulties this week. Starting last Thursday, half of the showers on our floor went under maintenance. There is all this yellow and black tape strung all over them, including my good shower. So every morning, people wake up earlier and earlier to try to get the good showers of the few we have left. I moved my wake up time to 6:00 am, and that's usually early enough to get first pick in there. But, someone actually tore the tape off of the super good shower the other day, so... I may just have to use it.

I found a scripture that I felt was inspired for me last P-day at the Campinas temple. While I was still in the temple right after the session, I sat down and opened the Book of Mormon next to me. It was bookmarked to Alma 38, wherein Alma is giving advice to his son Shiblon. It's a really great chapter, and I felt that it was very applicable to my mission right now, and it gave me good hope.

Love you all lots.

Love, Elder Perry

View of Sao Paulo from the CTM

WEEK 4: First time Proselytizing!

Getting ready for another day at the CTM

This week felt like a whole month! Just kidding, but it was very slow. I have actually been here almost a month. Imagine every day a regular morning, followed by 4 hours of Portuguese study and 4 more hours of seminary. It can feel hard sometimes, but I have come to enjoy the huge amount of spiritual and language learning that goes on here.

This last Saturday, we got to go proselytizing around downtown Sao Paulo (at their equivalent of a Times Square). And coincidentally, Saturday was also Brazil's Independence Day. We got to walk around and talk with a ton of people, and try to collect contacts. Elder Magleby and I talked with a lot of people, and were able to get the information of 2 people. Oh also, they reorganized our district and I only have one companion now (Elder Magleby). On the street we were proselytizing on, there was also a huge protest. Apparently there has been some serious political contention here in Brazil, so that was pretty interesting. I just wish I could read the news and see what it's all about, lol.

We said farewell to our roommates today, Elder Rojo and Elder Santos. They are both great guys, and will be fantastic missionaries. It's weird to see them go, because we had already been here for a week when they arrived. I can't wait to follow them out into the field.

The spirit is strong here amongst the missionaries. I have loved being able to feel the love of Christ through them every single day, even if we're just learning grammar. I love this work!

Love Elder Perry

P.S. Shout out to Thomas Stewart who leaves for the MTC this week! You'll be great!

Elder Perry with Elder Rojo & Elder Santos

View of Sao Paulo from the bus