WEEK 24: Tchau Fortaleza, Ola Itapipoca!

Baptisms of Victoria and Ana Gabrielle

Hey everyone! 

Another great and very hot week here in Fortaleza. We were able to get some good work done this last week before the transfer comes to a close tomorrow. 

This last Wednesday we baptized Victoria and her cousin, Ana Gabrielle. That was an amazing experience. From meeting them for the first time up until the baptism, it was quite the amazing journey. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary here, changing the lives of these people through our savior Jesus Christ. We were very happy that Victoria and Ana Gabrielle took this first great step in their lives. 

I have just learned that I will be transferred tomorrow. I am going to be headed to the interior city of Itapipoca. I am excited to go and get to know more parts of this great mission and the Itapipoca Branch. I will also now be the senior companion, so a little more responsibility as well. I am excited to see how the work is going over there.

It will be sad to say goodbye to my first area after spending over 4 months here, but it really has been a great experience. I met lots of really great people, and had many great experiences. I am certain that the Lord sent me to this area for a reason, and that he knows exactly what we need to do and who we need to meet here in the mission. I am really grateful for the Guararapes Ward. 

I love you all and I love this gospel. I know that it has the power to change lives. 

Elder Perry

Saying goodbye to good friends

WEEK 23: Sleep Talking in Portuguese

Hello everyone!

Not a whole lot happened these last few days. Our baptisms last week had to be postponed due to some coffee problems, but I think that we will be able to get it taken care of by the end of this week. We are loving the work here in this area and getting ready for transfers at the end of this week. 

On another note, apparently I do a lot of talking while I am sleeping from what Elder Makino tells me. And from what he says, it has been in only Portuguese. So, for what it's worth, I'm thinking in Portuguese even when I'm sleeping.

I also gave my first blessing in Portuguese earlier this week. The grandson of our bishop was at home and asked for us to give him a blessing because he underwent surgery on his knee. He asked me to seal the anointing and give him a blessing. That was a pretty cool experience, finally being able to give a blessing in Portuguese. I feel more confident with the language every day. As of now, I am learning to understand the younger people who tend to use a lot of slang. 

I am really enjoying the mission here, even if it sometimes feels like we are walking on the face of the sun. I love these people and the Lord. He is there to lift us up in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. 

Love,

Elder Perry

CTM district reunion at a recent zone conference
Elder Perry/Elder Haddock/Elder Gygi

WEEK 22 (and a half): MORE SUN!

Actually, we have gotten some rain in the mornings, which is pretty nice until about midday when it starts heating up again and gets hotter than normal. So that's nice.

We had our zone meeting recently. It was cool to see some of the other missionaries here in the mission. We got to hear some great messages and wish some of the missionaries goodbye. The transfer is ending at the end of next week, so everyone's preparing for that too. It's great to see and feel the changes here in the mission. 

We are having great success here in the area with people we are finding. We should have a couple of baptisms this week which would be great. We are working hard on constantly finding more people and getting them to go come to church with us. When we were making contacts the other day, this dude came out of his house and showed us a bunch of books and bibles he had marked up. He had a bunch of random and completely unreadable calculations that he had written out, claiming that the Earth was flat, and that NASA doesn't exist. Needless to say, he will not be going to church with us this Sunday.

We got to go to the Fortaleza temple today also! Which was a really cool experience. Our temple attendance is restricted here to only when the President calls everyone to go to the temple, so this was my first time going to the Fortaleza temple. It was a really great and spiritual experience in the temple. 

We are still working and sweating hard. I am loving the work and the people here! So glad to be serving the Lord here in Brazil. 

Elder Perry

WEEK 21: More Holidays in the Heat

Riding the Church Bus

2020 has finally arrived! It was definitely a little different passing all of these holidays in the burning sun, but at least I can live knowing I'll never have a vitamin D deficiency. 

We were directed by President to spend New Year's Eve at home to avoid the shenanigans of the immense amount of drinking that goes on in the streets. So we got some money together and bought some small “salgados.” Think of this basically as a miniature corn-dog but with chicken inside the bread part. That definitely wasn't the best way to describe them but I tried. And some Coke to drink because we needed it to feel like we were celebrating a little bit. 

Most of our investigators are returning from their vacations so it has been a little easier to get into touch with people. We are continuing to work forward towards the baptisms of several people for the next couple of weeks. So the work is going well. It has also really been better meeting with our people in their homes instead of going out in the sun the whole day. It definitely keeps me from turning into a literal tomato. 

It did rain once this week for basically the whole day, but then returned back to more sun. We dried very quickly to say the least. It feels like it is getting hotter every day. 

That's really about it! Some really great work. I am really feeling an improvement in my Portuguese and I am very happy to be here serving the people of Fortaleza! Love you all.

Elder Perry

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