Last photo and Home!

Last Letter Home

I would just like to say that I loved my mission and I am so glad that I got all the support to encourage me to be out here and to keep going. I am very grateful for the members that have given me so much gifts and are also still doing so. The mission has taught me a lot and I was so happy I could learn it here in the mission field. I have come to know more of who my Savior is and what He can do for all of us whether it be big or small in our eyes. He has and still continuing to help my weaknesses become strong and perhaps even stronger! I am so grateful for the many trials that I have been through, push through, and broke through. Thank you to all who even said little or big letters. It helps me know that I am loved. I can't wait to see you all when I get home or when you get home. Love you all! Take care!

Elder Perucca

Probably last full letter I will write

So we are now coming to an end to this long mission have we. Jeez, it sounds crazy when I think how long two years ago was. I was just a immature 18 year old. Now I am an immature 20 year old. Haha. Just kidding! Still, it has been a pretty long journey at times. Other times it has gone so fast because I was having so much fun with other missionaries and members. In the end, I am very glad that I have been able to serve this mission here in Calgary, Canada. I would say from what it looks like to me that this mission is a super hard mission. It may not have the same trials as other missions where some are in 3rd world countries and all that. But the reason it was hard here was because of various reasons. One big one was probably the temptations at every corner. Now I wouldn't classify as like every movie that I saw playing in a members home or the store or a song playing in the city a temptation. We can't really control that so we just basically accept the "blessing" of hearing that popular song and move along. What I do mean is seeing all the stores where we could buy those things. Those are not the only reasons why this mission was hard, but that would probably be one of the major ones.

This week was...meh. We are still trying to figure out the whole Bow Island thing and I will probably mention that in my final interview with President Miles.Speaking of that, that is going to be this Wednesday. Plus during that time, we are also doing this "employment center" thing. I don't really know what it is all about, but we will just have to see. My companion will be going on exchanges that day with another companionship in our zone where one of them is going home with me. Me and the one who is going home, Elder Roper, will be traveling to Lethbridge together to go to the employment thing. Basically, it will be a day off for us I guess. 

Also, Walk-&-Talk August has officially begun. If you remember the last Walk and Talk August, it is pretty much the same here. However, I wish that took into consideration of what each area is like. Our area is very hard to walk to because it is sooooooo far away and going there would take like 3 hours because we can't walk on the highway. I don't really mind too much because I am going home soon, but I do want to leave this area better than when I cam to it. So we will do what we can right? 

We have also been talking to Michael and to be honest he is the most progressing person that we are working with. We have now told him what the Book of Mormon is and why we need it. He is really interested in it, however he finds the Book of Mormon pretty hard to read so he is struggling to understand it. Hopefully, we can work with him to understand what the Book of Mormon teaches and to also FINALLY come to church!

We also did some Zone finding this Saturday, but not much really came out of it. People don't like to walk outside here when it is this hot. It is the hottest part of Alberta. That is odd that last summer I was in the coolest spot in Alberta which was Pincher Creek and now I am in the hottest. I hope it isn't this hot in Utah. It has been over 30 degrees here for quite a bit.

Alright now, question time!

Questions #1: When are you expected to be in Calgary for meeting with your mission president, dinner, etc. before you fly out on Aug 14?

We don't know the whole schedule for that quite yet. All we know is on the 13th we go to transfers, go to Calgary, wait till devotional and after that or before that we don't know. I guess we will find out more as we go along.

#2: Do you have to do anything in particular at embassy, etc. in Calgary before you leave Canada?

(shrug) I don't know. I don't know what to really expect...:/

#3: How many missionaries will be leaving at the same time you will be?

If I counted correct I believe 17. But only a few will be on the plane coming to Utah with me.

Well, this is really it. My last full letter! Next time I don't think I will have too much to say. Thank you for all your support. Can't wait to see you all when I get home! Take care!

Dinner Photo

Just had a wonderful dinner with your son and his companion, he is doing well and did eat all of his green salad. We have a son serving in the Logan mission. 

Mark & Joy Sloan - Medicine Hat First Ward

Great week for me, no so for my companion

So as I went throughout this week, I was actually enjoying myself a lot. I was in a good mood and got closer with ward members in this area. It was pretty cool too that I got to go on exchanges with Elder Morenco who is our district leaders boy. So that meant I went to Brooks this last Friday and Saturday. The area was a bit different than ours here in Med Hat and Bow Island. It is more of a townish look, but it is still pretty big. There is SO many different religions there and black people there. I think it was great for the Brook Elders although they are technically English missionaries, they both speak Spanish and that helps a lot in that area as well. Our exchange wasn't bad. Morenco is pretty sweet. He isn't like a obedient Nazi, but he likes to work and I respect that of him. I had a lot of laughs with him. We mainly just did some catch up with his ward members and ward business.

Also on Sunday, we had dinner with these sweet ward members. They loved to take care of us and really wanted to get to know us. I loved them to death. Plus they showed us the movie Heaven is For Real. When I was in Parkland, a member gave me the book to read of that movie which just basically explains the movie, but several things are out of order, but it wasn't distracting. My favorite part in the book and also in the movie was when the kid mentioned that he saw his sister who was miscarried earlier in Heaven. It is pretty sweet to see their reaction to it. It also got the ward members that we were with open up with several experiences that they had. It was just an awesome overall dinner with them.

President interviews were also pretty cool. It got us more of a chance to see what President is like and also his wife. It is funny because they are both very "green". They have those greenie smiles and still trying to get used to this mission. But my interview was basically just a look back on my mission and seeing what I have learned. I focused on telling him I learned a lot of patience than I thought I had. I have also gotten to know my Saviour more and how to recognize more of His will for anything I experience. President wanted me to set a goal to get someone "ready for baptism" before I go. I think that is a good goal to set. It really comes down to the person that I will teach, but it is a nice to think ahead.

Although my week was pretty dang good, my companion on the other hand was going through pretty hard stuff. We kinda narrowed down his sleeping problems down. It turns out that it isn't me that is keeping him up. His restless leg syndrome is doing that. We have called the nurse and she gave some suggestions and he tried that and it didn't work. Then we went to the bishop's wife and she have him a owl and oils to help him sleep and that also didn't work. Then he went to get a prescription from the doctor for him to help sleep and THAT didn't work either! His sleeping patterns are odd. He does sleep more than other nights, but you can tell when he doesn't sleep well. I let him take as long as he can for his sleep so that he can function.

As for the Thai guy, the reason why he is with the Spanish is because he speaks Spanish better than English so the Spanish work with him more. He wasn't here last Sunday and we were supposed to help him again. Maybe next week is we aren't in Bow Island.

Speaking of Bow Island, our Ward Mission Leader has expressed that nothing is really going on in Bow Island and he wants us to talk to the Mission President about the issue. Elder Poulter is trying to figure what is going on since he may be staying here after I leave. So we will see what happens with him.

Question time:

 #1 do you see much of an issue with member sabbath day observance in Canada?

I believe that observance on the Sabbath day really depends on the individual that wants to learn most from it. People may find that socializing with others or doing other things during sacrament is distracting. I don't get distracted easily during the Sabbath. I stay as focused as I can. With others, in Med Hat it isn't a issue at all I believe. In Bow Island, it is more of an issue, but they can fix it.

#2, how is the reverence before and during sacrament meeting in the areas you have served in?

Most all of the areas I have been in except for Coaldale has been pretty dang good for observing the Sabbath. Sure, there is room for improvement, but they are doing pretty good overall.

#3, has a reverent attitude by the missionaries been taught as a general principle to the missionaries by your mission leadership?

Actually, surprisingly it hasn't been brought up to any mission leadership. It has been mostly focused on the ward and ward council people.

I got basically like 2 weeks left. Every day is a trunky day, but I still go out and work. The thought of home comes to mind every day, but can't really block it out so I just keep pressing on. Only two more emails for you guys ^_^. Love you all! Take care!

Meh

Can't really say too much this week because most of the people we tried to meet this week were not home or were pretty busy. It was a pretty dead week to be honest so there wasn't much to do. Elder Poulter is still having some sleeping problems, but I learned it is not just me because of it. He has had this sleeping problem since he was born and can't really sleep because his legs won't relax or something. He has to take ibuprofen and a sleeping medicine for him to sleep nice. But that doesn't work all the time. It is alright though. I let him sleep for however long he wants because I'd rather have a functioning companion than someone who isn't thinking straight or is dosing off. I am sure my companions did the same when I was sick or whatever. It helps a lot to deal with stress or whatever.

We have been asked to help this one kid get ready for his mission by taking him to do several stuff out in Bow Island. Problem is that there isn't much to do in Bow Island at all! I don't want to go on about it as I am sure I have done so for the last 3 emails. But meh, it's whatever. I only have to go out there 3 more times.

So our investigator who was nine got baptized this Saturday in Carston. The bishop made sure that it was done by going to the baptism and all that. We don't really work with our investigator at the moment now because he will be staying in Carston for the whole summer basically. So I am sure I won't be seeing him again or either their family. But it is nice to know that we did do something to help him with his progression. I have still not seen a baptism that I have really helped with. I mean, sure, Nichole in Parkland for one lesson and this kid for one as well, but as to really progress with them, I haven't. I am not saying that I am sad about it however. I am really glad that I could be part of the progressing stage. It is so nice to hear after you leave that area that the person you were working with before is getting baptized or has been baptized. Just because I didn't witness their baptism, doesn't mean that I didn't have the chance to help them or help them see or feel the Holy Ghost in their lives.

This Sunday was pretty cool as well because we were helping someone who spoke Tai here take the lessons. When I say help, I mean we just set up the Skype call and told the person what to teach this person. It is usually the Spanish missionaries that take care of this, but they were not there because they had to stay in Brooks about something. It was pretty cool however because sometimes they spoke a bit of Spanish and I could pick out some words and kinda understand what they were talking about. I couldn't really understand the gospel terms they were saying, but really just common ones. In the end, we committed him to pray about the Plan of Salvation and to read certain scriptures about it. He said he would.

I have also finished my study copy of the Book of Mormon that I have. It has all my notes in it that I had come to me while I read it and also previous notes from my previous scriptures. Now I am working on transferring my old Bible notes over to my new one. It is a pretty long process, but when I read it, it helps me understand what I just read. Before I would just highlight it without any explanation and later I would come back to that verse and not understand why I highlighted it.

As for the obedience thing, I have heard multiple times that saying about, "Obedience brings blessings, strict obedience brings miracles." I think it doesn't really depend on obedience alone as people think. Sure people can wake up at 6:30 and do all the daily routine and such, but just because they did those things doesn't mean everything will be great and dandy and whatever. There is an analogy that our AP told us: There is one missionary who does everything obedient. He wakes up on time, studies, doesn't listen to bad music, etc. But when he goes out to do the harvest, he only brings a pair of scissors. That won't cut much wheat down for it to be stored. Now we have another missionary who slacks up a bit here and there. He doesn't always wake up on time, listens to questionable music sometime, lacks in studies here and there, etc. But when he goes out to work or to do the harvest, he brings a scythe to bring in the harvest. It is important to know that the Lord uses different tools for us missionaries to help others. One could be obedience. Another could be diligent work. Another could be love. Obedience is not the only tool the Lord gives us as missionaries.

Alrighty now, question time!

#1 Do you count our investigator as a convert baptism seeing that he is nine years old?

Yes, we do. Anyone who is over 8 years old that we help baptized counts as a convert baptism for us. I don't know how it works with the church and all, but as for missionaries, yes it counts.

Question #2 Where do you stay when you go to Bow Island?

We stay with members either with this family named the Atwoods or the Features or something like that. Both pretty nice families. The Atwoods feed us a lot which I am grateful for.

Well that is all that happened this week basically. I can't guarantee more will happen this week seeing that people are still gone this week. We have President interviewson Tuesday and we will see what I get to talk to him about. I will talk to you guys next week for the 3rd to last time! Love you all! Take care!

One. Day. At. A. Time.

Holy crap! This week just zoomed by, until we got to Bow Island, but still! This week just flew by and it is kinda hard to believe that I am right back to emailing right now. I only got 4 more times to email all of you guys! WOW! 4 more times over emails and then I get to talk to you for real. That is insane! To be honest, I never thought this day would come because there were times on my mission where I was just about to quit. Like...a lot! But now, I am just about done! Crazy how when you think at the beginning of your mission that two years is so far away. And then you get here at this point!

This week was a bit slow because of Elder Poulter. Not like he was bad or anything, but he wasn't feeling good at all this entire week. From as he described it, he just felt like crap all the time or just weak. I personally think that he was suffering through a bit of sun stroke from being in the sun too much. But then his back starting acting up and he said it just hurt. We mostly relaxed this week as he was trying to recover. I also feel bad for him feeling a bit weak and crappy because, and this shouldn't be news to anyone, but my snoring has kicked up a bit. So bad that Elder Poulter has to move to the other side of the room so he can sleep better. Sometimes I feel just a bit guilty for my companions and sometimes their weak or sleepy times throughout the day because of my snoring. Elder Poulter says he is worried more about my progress in the gospel for no woman would want to sleep with me with my snoring like that. Haha! I have all these before so do not worry.

The kid that we put on date is still in Carston and won't be baptized till the 18th we believe. We won't be able to go because...well, it's in Carston and we are like 2 hours away from them. Still, we believe that there shouldn't be anything holding this kid back from being baptized.

This last Wednesday we went to see our President. Kinda like officially meet him. He seemed pretty sweet. President Nicholas was the kind of President that like to say hi, maybe even get a quick handshake, and then go on his way. This President however is one who will shake your hand firmly and look straight into your eyes, like even your soul. It kinda got us a bit scared because this is all new to us. But he is a very friendly President. His plan as he shared with us was that we understand why we need to obey God's commandments. I was super happy for this mission when he announced that because lots of missionaries here do something that we call here "blind obedience" meaning they just do stuff because they just been told to do it and not really figuring out the reasons why. To be honest, I am a little jealous that I won't be here when President Miles is here.

Members here keep on inviting non members to the dinners that we come to and I am very happy that they are doing so. This is awesome! I love members that do this because it helps us become united in the work and it shows trust in us.

Alrighty, time for questions:

Question #1: How do you work Sundays with two different Areas?

So what we do here is for one week we go to Bow Island Friday, Saturday, andSunday till church ends. Then the next week we go to Bow Island on Wednesday andThursday, but go to Church here in Med Hat that week. So basically it is every other week.

Question #2: Why is it called Bow Island?

Don't know. I will have to ask that next time we go down there.

Question #3: Neck size?

I believe its 17 or 18.

Question #4:How much can you be on the computer as a missionary?
The standard time we can be on a computer each day is about an hour. This may give or take depending on what we are doing on the computer like blogs, videos, and all other kinds of stuff. The hour is just to help us understand that the base time is, but we just got to be smart with our time on the computer.

Question #5: Did it take a long time to take pictures of all your pictures?

Not really. As I did mention earlier, Elder Poulter was sick a lot this week so on the time where he was relaxing, I drew. I send the pictures to one of the members who I trust to access my account and kinda introduced me to Deviantart.com and she posts it there. I still haven't shared all my drawings yet for I have a binder full of them. It is just sometime I do when we are bored and can't do much else.

Thank you for letting me know that my package is home. Plus thank your for all the support you have given me. I can't wait to talk to you all next week and see what will happen. Love you all!

President is gone!

Well President Nicholas is gone we got a new Mission President this last week. To be honest, I didn't noticed the change much. The mission pretty much stayed the same for now. It won't be much different until later, and to be honest I don't think I will be here long to be involved in it. There is a talk going around saying that there is going to be another Walk and Talk August as we did last year. I don't really see the point of it because we already did it and it is trust trying an old idea again. If they are going to do it, I would rather they shorten the goal so that is IS reachable. We didn't even reach 10,000 when we did it the first time.

So what can I tell you about this week. Well, this week was short, but long at the same time. Let me explain: When we are in Medicine Hat, the work goes faster and smoother because there are things to do here. Members are always willing to talk with us and they are chill with missionaries. However, in Bow Island, time seems to slow down. I could almost say it comes to a screaming halt. No members really want to talk with us except for 1. Plus, the area is just DEAD. The members treat it like it is not dead, but it is absolutely dead. We can't really do much about it. We try to visit people, but they are always busy or just not friendly to the missionaries. If I had to the choice, I would probably go out there maybe every two weeks by the way it is progressing. Oh well, we are still trying to work with them I guess.

We did however get someone out here on date. Well, he is going to Carston to get baptized, but we still put him on date for the 18th. He is part of an inactive family, but all, but the husband, are returning to church. The kid is 9 years old and we just had to teach him the basics because he wasn't baptized when he was 8. We basically taught him the last 2 lessons really fast right after church and got our district leader to interview him later that day. It is pretty tricky because our district leader is out in Brooks which is quite far away.

We may have found a new investigator as well BECAUSE, are you ready for this, OF A MEMBER!!! Surprised? I am not since that is total key for missionary work to progress. We had supper at this woman's house and she brought a non-member. We had fun and played some games and got to know this guy. When we shared our dinner message and explained our purpose he expressed that he would like to know more and loved to learn more about the gospel, all because a member invited him to a dinner. See how easy that is? I am super proud this ward gets member missionary work because there are a few that do.

We did do a bit of tracting this week because my companion is a fan of that. But I found the reason why I don't like or not very good at tracting. I can't do the initiative or start the conversation at a door. It is just awkward for me. So, whenever we go tracting, my companion does the first talk and then I come in later. It makes me tolerate tracting. But ya, we did that. Nothing much came from it as usual.

I was happy to see Kaylee and her new born baby! Whoo hoo! That is a crazy story for what happened. I am glad the baby is safe and well. I have a second niece! Whoo hoo!

I have sent a package home. It is another "Do Not Open Till I Get Home" package. If you would not open it that would be awesome. Thank you.

Well, summer is still here and activities are coming. We got some BBQs this week and going to meet some awesome people from the ward. I will talk to you guys next week. Love you all!

What Can I Say?

There has been a couple things on my mind in this past week and a lot of it has been on home. Now, it still doesn't effect the work. I make sure of that. I am sure every missionary goes through this when the end of his mission is coming pretty dang fast. I have about 6 1/2 weeks left. The whole "day feels like weeks and weeks feels like days" is really coming to effect now. I am still focused on the work.

My companion is pretty cool actually. I have met him before when I was in his district in South Calgary. He is one of those people who doesn't like to "pile". I admire him for that, but the way how he fixes it I don't agree with and it usually is tracting. I don't want to spend the entire time of my last transfer just tracting. I hope to give him a couple of more ideas of how to do more effective work. The attitude is the same throughout the whole zone. I hope I can somewhat change peoples mind about it.

Elder Poulter is from somewhere close to Spanish Fork. He lived in Dallas, Texas before. Elder Poulter has been out for 18 months and he is still going strong. He is chill at most parts, but he likes to keep his mind focused on the work. He is not a fan of socializing much, but he still wants to work.

So our area is quite big actually. In fact, it's the biggest area I think I have covered. We cover Med Hat 1st ward and a little town closer to Lethbridge called Bow Island. From what I understand of how we do things here is that 2 days per week we go to Bow Island and do some work there. The rest of the week we mostly spend in Medicine Hat. From what I have seen, Bow Island is pretty dead for missionary work. Everyone there is fixed in their own religion and does not want to change. It is however a very nice town. People are always willing to say hello and all that. I haven't seen much in Med Hat though. From what Elder Poulter has told me is that the members here are super sweet. They take care of missionaries and help in any way they can. However, Med Hat is kinda dead in the missionary work as well. I believe, so far from what I have seen, is that we need to help strengthen the members by teaching the missionary discussions so that it can keep their mind on missionary. I don't want to go on a rant on how much I hate tracting because in the end it doesn't really matter.

We only have like one "potential investigator" in Bow Island, but we haven't really brought up the gospel to her yet. The missionaries before have been doing quite a bit of service for her so that has broke the ice in that relationship and we have been talking a lot to her. I don't know when it will be a good time to bring up the gospel with her, but I will see what will happen.

I have seen all across facebook with the gay marriage stuff. It is kinda not hard to miss. It is pretty interesting to see. Sure, gay people can get married. They can do that and that is between them and God or them and whatever. However, I don't believe that is the happiest way. I believe a marriage between a man and a woman is the happiest marriage. But here is the problem. I can defend gay marriage all I want, but what really the question is will the ones who support gay marriage defend my beliefs? The answer to that is no. I am glad the church put out that response that their doctrine has not changed about it and it will never change. People need to see that just because some laws have changed in the land, you can't change the church's doctrine.

That is all I have to say about that because it is a very sensitive subject to all because many know others who are going through same-sex attraction. My companion is having a hard time dealing with the fact that this just happened. All we do is still stand up with our beliefs, but don't get into a endless fight with others about it.  

I feel like this transfer will be the slowest transfer out of all my transfers. I don't think I can make it seem fast no matter what. People say that if I work REALLY hard then time will go by fast. My experience is if I work REALLY hard, time goes as slow as ever. I just got to find some enjoyment in working here. I am still trying to find a way since my companion loves to go tracting, but I will do my best to find other ways where we can both enjoy the work.

I would normally not ask this, but if you could, could you pray for me to just get passed this one last transfer. I believe this will be a pretty tough one and it will take a lot of work to keep my mind off home for sometime and focus on where I am now and what I can do to help people here. I do plan on staying out here till the end, I just need the motivation to do so. Thanks for all your support and can't wait to see you guys soon! It is pretty sweet that I am just about done with this 2 year mission. It has been a glorious time, a terrible time, a spiritual time, a physical demanding time, and an emotional time all at once. Love you all! Here I go! One last transfer...

My companion is the one who is wearing glasses in this picture.

Last week WASN'T the best week ever...however, this week may be

So some big news is going on! Elder Hulse got a training call and is training someone for his last transfer and I just got a transfer call saying I am going somewhere south of the mission. Whether that be Lethbridge, BC, Medicine Hat, or Carston I don't know. Those are just the possibilities of the last area I will serve in my mission. To be honest, I couldn't be happier! I was kinda done with this area because we did all we could for it and still nothing progressed. Now whether it be because of the area or the ward members, I am not exactly sure. But what I know is as missionaries, we did all we could to help the ward here. Now it is time to move on and go somewhere else.

This new area may be a tough one because for the most part, I am going to think a lot about home and college life. I really don't mind which area I will be in instead of Carston, but I don't think the area really matters for me. I think all that matters is that I get a cool companion who I can relate with and get along with. If I do get one of those, then this next transfer should sail quite smoothly! In the end, it is time to get ready to go home soon.

Elder Hulse isn't too happy about what is going on seeing that he is training his last transfer in this difficult area. I am sure he has a plan however to get the greenie he will get on track.

So in preporation of this greenie coming, last week on Friday we went to a trainers meeting where President gave us his last training on the mission before he leaves on the 30th. It was pretty interesting to be at this meeting seeing that this was my first time going to this kind of meeting. We mainly talked about controlling the greenie fire that the new missionaries get when they come in. I think that is very important to talk about becuase lots of missionaries don't know how to control that sort of thing. Plus new missionaries get frustrated very easily and trainers need to know how to control that sort of thing.

This week will be pretty straight foreword. Today we will enjoy our P-day, then tomorrow we will take a whole day to drive up to Calgary to go to go to the greenies fireside and after that is done we drive all the way back to Coaldale with Elder Hulses greenie and show him around coaldale, although mostly it will be just my goodbyes to everyone I like here. Plus I need to pack all my belongings. I think this will be the time where I start leaving some clothing behing like garments and all that junk. I don't think I need to pack heavy for going home. WE'll get to that part when it comes.

I don't feel like ranting on what happened in ward council on Sunday because I don't have to be there anymore so no rant today. Sorry to disapoint you. Jk!

Alright now it's question time!

#1 Have they told you for sure that your release date and flight home is August 14?

We got a trunkie call from the office telling them where we wanted to go when we flew home. I said Salt Lake and they told me that they would call me when I have a month left and that they would email you guys all the flight imformation. That is my understanding from it. They will give me all the details of my flight soon.

#2 How will Canada Day (July 2) affect your work on Coaldale? Does it affect the whole week of just from July 2(Thursday) through the weekend?
I am not quite sure. It all depends on the area I will be in. I assume it is just a normal day. They haven't said anything otherwise. 

#3 Is it hot up here?

Oh yes it is very hot up here! It can get up to 36 degrees up here! It will be a hot next transfer! I don't think it will cool down until I get home!

Well, that is it for this week! I will for sure tell you where I am and who my next companion is when I get him. Be looking for those emails. Love you all! Take care!

Trunkie Week #2 plus some terrible frustration

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH BOY! This week was just utter chaos! It doesn't help that the ward is not helping you in any way or doesn't care if you get investigators or not. Plus people invite us to come to their house so that they can just kick us out as soon as possible and being a jerk about it.

You remember the ward I was in when I was with Elder Corning and Elder Larson? I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I believe I said that it was the worst ward I have ever served. Let us change that to this ward. I am not saying this because I haven't tried to fix it or I just came in and the ward was like this. But recently, the ward has just become...aweful.

Now don't mistaken this as there isn't any work in Coaldale. There is plenty of work and we are grateful for that. However, we don't get any support from it or appreciation. For example: Remember those 3 investigators that we found while doing service? Yeah, so we reported them to ward council yesterday, and they didn't care. They just nodded their head and simply moved onto the meeting just telling their-selves how great they were in observing the sabbath. We keep asking for help, but they give none and are not happy with any results we report. It is just so...FRUSTRATING!!!

Ok, so now that we got that out of the way. Let us talk about the great stuff that happened:

Well, we participated in a food drive this past week. It was actually pretty sweet because it reminded me of how we did it at home. Problem was that we did it in the dead heat of the day which was around 2:00. We were dead tired after leaving bags on doors for 2 hours. We had to go back and take a shower. On Saturday, we went to pick them up and that wasn't bad. The people didn't donate much, but I am not complaining about it. The food bank was overwhelmed that our church did this and they thanked us so much for all the food they had received.

The Tinney's weren't home this entire week and our investigators weren't responding so this really wasn't a investigator or teaching week. It was more like service like lifting things in trucks, helping move branches, etc. It is just getting to that time of the year where it is spring cleaning.

It is pretty hard to see whenever I get on facebook the people who are home or announcing they are home. It is not like I am dying of trunkyness, but it just makes me a little homesick to see them. It is not a big deal though. I knew I would probably see those kinds of post now and then here.

Alright now it is question time:

Question #1: What types of things happen in your current district meetings held probably each P-Day?  Do you practice teaching, resolving concerns, etc.?

First off, district meetings are not held on P-day. They are held the day after P-day or if it is on transfers the day before P-day. You can't ruin the sacredness of a P-day! Anywho, what we learn about in district meetings kinda depends on the District Leader. I have had district leaders who include role playing in the meetings and I have had those who don't do role playing in district meetings. Usually, the mission sends a subject list of what to teach in district meetings and sometimes the choice is the district leaders. We usually report our area, go into training, role play (if wanted), and close. It is that simple.

Question #2: Do you attend each of your assigned ward's Ward Council Meetings of just some of them?  Are you and Elder Hulse invited for the whole Ward Council Meeting of just part of the meeting?

This is also depended on the ward. But in this ward we are invited to everything and we stay there for the entire meeting. Sometimes we don't know why we stay there because they usually don't turn the time to us at all so we have nothing to report and it is a complete waste of time.

Question #3: How did the missionaries get volunteered to help with parking at a demolition derby?  That seems a little different or outside what could be termed "missionary service".  Was the rest of your zone helping you with this as it sounds like from your e-mail?

When I was serving with Bench, a random guy called asking us to help him with the demolition derby. He said that missionaries have helped there before. We just decided to take it. It doesn't matter what kind of service it is as long as it is service. I love doing service because of 2 things. 1) It fills in our time and 2) It gets us noticed in these events. I guarantee that more people know who we are because we helped here with this demolition derby. Our whole Zone participated in this event.

Question #4: What activities is the ward having in June?

Every 3rd Friday of the month our ward has a games night where people who come bring the board games they like to play with others. There is also refreshments there and everyone has a great time. Lots of non-members come here so it is a great way to find people I guess.

Question #5: Are you doing any kind of an exercise plan?

Heh, nah. There hasn't really been anything to motivate to do so. Basketball in the morning was a motivator, but since I am not in that area anymore and there are not many Elders that are close to us, they is kinda off the table.

Now as for Andrew Boyle's talk, yes I completely agree. People email me and ask me here  all the time, "What is the best experience on your mission? Any big huge ones?" You guys know it. Mine is Kade's conversion. But I haven't really had any big spiritual experience. However, I have had little experiences here and there to help me grow up and become a man my Heavenly Father wants me to be. I may seem the same, minus the weight gain, but I have grown. I am still me, but I understand more of the world and of Heavenly Father's plan. I don't really believe a persons complete attitude will change because of his mission. People are called out on a mission to be THEMSELVES, not anyone else or some completely different version of themselves. So what Andrew said I totally agree on everything he said.

Now there will be those times where a big thing effect your mission. But I think it is the little things that count. Small and simple things are great things come to pass or something like that. I also afraid to speak in sacrament. Large groups I suck at speaking at. But the mission has helped me with the attitude of if I am asked something, I just do it. I have a plan, but if Heavenly Father tells me something different, I do what He asks. That is basically my guideline through my life and mission.

Sorry, I don't want to ramble. Hopefully, this week will be a lot better than this previous week and hopefully our ward leadership will show us what they want us to do and how they can help. If not, we can't really help with this ward. Love you all! Thank you for your support! Welcome home Andrew!

Trunkie Week

Whoo! This week went by slow and fast. But the entire time was thinking about home or college. It didn't helo that there wasn't too much to do during the weekdays, but we tried to visit the members that the ward council dumped on us this last meeting. Lots of them did not answer or gave us that "we'll call you" and never called us back. You do get used to it however on your mission as you are told constantly the same thing. It seems these part-members or less-active members just don't want to be found out here. They just want to keep going on there lives the way they are already are. But hey, what can you do.

We have actually been doing a lot of service this week for the Tinneyès next door neighbors, Robin, Stewart, and Alex. Robin and Stewart are a couple and Alex is the 15 year old kid. They recently cut down 3 trees and we helped them load up the branches in a trailer and dump them somewhere else. They actually really appreciated it. It was pretty awesome because the begining of the second day that we were going to load the trailer up Robin came up to us and said, So what is the process of joining your church because I am pretty interested in it. She also expressed that Alex had not been baptized in her church and thought it would be good for him to start coming to our church if that is what he wants. To be honest, Elder Hulse and I were kinda taken back and astonished by this because we never expected to hear this from them. Things were going down the drain, but because Brother Tinney was being a good neighbor and inviting us to get involved, this happened. That was an awesome day! I have never had someone come up to us and express that before.

We have been "meeting" with them from now and then. Brother Tinney still invites us to come to BBQs and they are there and enjoy us being there. I think what got them comfortable with us was 1). We kept doing service for them with no ask in return.

2.) We acted like normal people.

People say that we missionaries have to act holy all the time no matter what. Yes, I agree. However, don't let it take over your humanity. Don't become a robot like I have expressed before. You are still you and you can relate to a lot of people the way you are. If you are just a robot going through the motions, then I could just easily replace you with a normal robot. We come on missions to improve our testimonies and to understand what the world is really all about. People are different everywhere and I have seen that.

We also helped with this demolition derby this Saturday with all our zone. It was...fun at some times. We were mainly part of the parking of this event and it was BUSY! Oh my goodness! Plus people were getting super pissed at us because we "weren't doing good at our job". This event was fetching busy! We had to go to many parking spots that people did not like, but that is what happens when you arrive 30 minutes late. Our zone thought we were kidding about our area being prideful and people being mean to everyone. Well, now they know how bad it is here and they never say a word about it again. We were just basically done with people at the end of the day. The event wasn't too bad. It was fun seeing cars crash into people at some times. It was a nice get together of the zone.

As for the college thing: Thank you! It is a lot to think about right now. I had some classes I do want to narrow down. The Book of Mormon class looks sweet. I do want to go to raquetball and probably Math 101 or whatever you had on the paper would be good for me I believe. That is all I narrowed down for college so far.

Question Time:

1#: Do we teach any lessons on Sunday? 

No, we haven't since the time I have been here. We did give a talk last Sunday in Sacrament meeting, but the talks were so short that we had to base it on, that we only talked for 5 minutes.

Well, that was it for this week. There should be a couple of piano videos coming soon this week so hopefully I can get those uploaded pretty quick! Thank you so much for your support!

10 Weeks Left!!!!

Fun weekend and P-day

Whoooo! This week was a better week than most of the times that I have been here. The work has been progressing pretty good. Not really for investigators too much. But more like through members and all that. The 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric gave us a lot of members to go see to help the ward become more unified. That is what I think we will be doing most of the time here in Coaldale. Mostly member work and some missionaries don't really approve of this because they think it is just about bringing non-members to Christ. To be honest, I just shut them down out of my head. Everyone, not just some people, but everyone needs to come unto Christ whether they be active or inactive. Member or non member.

This Saturday, Brother Tinney invited us to have a BBQ at his house. He invited quite a bit of non-members and we have been talking to them for quite a bit. The parents kinda show a bit of not interested, but the 15 year old is showing a bit of interest to what we do and what we believe. That is a good start in getting introduced to the gospel. We don't have to just jump into a gospel discussion the first time you meet them or any of that. You just have to introduce yourself and tell them what you do. If they want to learn more, they will ask. If they don't, try telling them what you do in the church, but don't attack them with it. 

I am still figuring out all this college thing, but I am pretty excited about it. I don't know how this works, but I will let you know what I think will work. There are so many options to choose and such so little to do so. We will see what happens.

So this P-day my companion and I and the Stirling Elders who are Elder Sumsion and Elder Reynolds went to Waterton which is this super sweet park. You can see the pictures that I got there on Facebook. We had a blast and couldn't have gone with better people than the Elders that I did go with. It was probably one of the best P-days I have ever had on the mission. 

Question Time:

Question #1: What is the one or two things you would like to accomplish in the next few months before the end of your mission?

Well, this one isn't really important, but perhaps witness a baptism that I helped with. And the other, probably finish my copy of the study Book of Mormon.

Question #2: How is the reading of the Book of Mormon going for you?

I am in Alma 37 in my study form of the Book of Mormon and I am happy to see it progressing so well. I like the way the Book of Mormon looks.

Question #3:  Of all the discussions you have taught during your mission, which has been the most spiritual/wonderful/memorable and why?

That would probably be Kade's first lesson that we taught him because that felt so good! It was so focused on family and seeing how close that family was it just felt awesome! It was like that missionary lesson that you think about before the mission. I loved that member and continuely talk to him. 

Well, that was mostly this week. Sorry if it is a little short. I did get my "trunkie call" they will call my back later to give me my flight information but I am leaving on the 14th I believe. They will let you guys know. Love you all! See ya!

--

-Elder Perucca

Let the 5 week transfer begin

I know all of you are dying to know who my new companion is. I was too when it was transfer time. I did express that I was really nervous about who my new companion was going to be because on what the next step was going to be in our area. Lo and behold, I got a sweet companion that I actually called that I was going to get. His name is Elder Hulse. He was from my MTC district and we came out at the same time. I served around him once on my mission and that was my last area in Copperwood where he was my district leader. He isn't district leader anymore so that means my DLB days are over. I am just a regular missionary now.

Elder Hulse has been out...well...the same time I have been. 21 months. He is from around Logan, Utah. I don't remember exactly what town he is from, but it is somewhere close to that one. He and I get along awesome. He wasn't too happy about getting transferred like I was in Copperwood, but he and I are almost done with our mission so we should be just fine.

A lot of the Zone has changed. Our two zone leaders both left, one going home and one going to the North. The one going home is from AF. Downing is his last name. Maybe you guys can look him up and see how he is doing. Anywho, we got two new zone leaders who a re pretty young in the mission and seem to take this zone to a new direction. We had a "goal meeting" and discussed what we like to focus on this transfer. We all agreed that we focus on asking referrals from everyone we meet with. While I do agree with this goal, I don't agree with the goal number we set. We set 500 each week for the entire zone. I don't disagree with not reaching it because we could...but our area sucks with this and we would be in the minority and it would just make us look bad. Not that is anything new, but I rather avoid that situation.

Our ward hasn't change much. We have been doing a lot of service and trying to figure out the whole situation with Brother Tinney and Josh. But I feel whatever we tell the ward council what we did during the week, they are always expecting more. There isn't much to tell them. This area....this area is dead! Unless members actually HELP us get to know people and not just DUMP them on us, then we could work on Part member families. But all ward council tells us to do is to just...do it. Plus, we tell them we do service and they don't seem too happy about it either. I don't know what they want or expect of us, but it is getting pretty annoying. Elder Hulse notices it too and he already knows that this is going to be a tough area and a tough time to get through it.

President interviews are this week and I am going to express what all is happening in my area to President so he can suggest a few ways to  get it progressing. Plus, it is President's last interview with us and it may be an emotional time. We'll see what happens.

I guess it is now question time!

Question #1: Did we do any service lately and what was it?

This week we did quite a bit. We went to a farm and put some gopher poison in some holes where the gophers live. That took a while, but it was pretty fun. We also help taking some concrete out of a person's backyard, but there was some re-barb that we couldn't cut through or breakthrough so we will have to wait till we continue on that.

Question #2: Do you have any funny experiences to tell?

Talking to Elder Hulse about our MTC times has been fun. We see sometimes that elders we knew in the MTC have changed. Not changed good, but changed bad. What I mean is they get in our face and think they know everything about the mission and what we should do. But that is another subject I rather not talk about.

Hmmm, well, Brother Tinney invited us over to a fire pit dinner and we went. There was quite a bit of non-members there. The parents didn't seem to want to talk with us, but the kids and teenagers were all over us. They gave us some updates on video games and movie trailers and all that jazz. But during that, the fire got a bit big after throwing a bit of wood in it and a kid backed off without looking where he was going and trip over the concrete that we were working on getting out. He has a little scrape, but the kid was in complete shock and was making a scence. The funniest part was this.

Kid that fell over: I wanna lay down

Brother Tinney's daughter: Then lay down

KTFO: I can't!...I wanna stand up.

BTD: Then stand up.

KTFO: I CAN'T! Is my arm broken?

BTD: No.

KTFO: Oh thank you God!

It was quite a a funny experience, but that is just my sense of humor.

Before I go, about the BYU-I course thing...I have no idea how colledge work and I am not exactly at a place where I can print this off or any place nearby where I can. I will see what I can do though, but I don't expect I will be doing it anytime soon...:/

Love you all and the picture I posting up is a picture of my and my current companion, but it is an old picture. He is the elder that is in the middle with me. Take care!

It gets slower and slower and slower...

Well, the work in this area just came to a screaming halt. We did all the lost sheep that we could do and no members are really helping us with anything like finding or service or nothing. It is really frustrating when we are doing our stuff and we are getting no help at all. The members are cool and everything and say they want to help, but they are just not showing anything. 

Plus the situation with Brother Tinney and Josh didn't improve at all. We gave them a non-formal baptismal interview and told them that Josh is not ready. He needed to know what repentance was and also the Sabbath day which were two very important points. But they took it very hard since they already had the baptismal day for this Saturday at the Kootany lake. They haven't contacted us since and it is very hard to follow up on this because Josh is moving to the Crownest Pass soon and it is just going to be our of our hands by this point. 

This area is probably going to be dead soon. And it seems we are going to be at our last resort which all of you know I hate. Tracting...-_-. This is probably one of the toughest areas I have been in. It is pretty close to Parkland in South Calgary. I just have no clue of what to do here anymore. Plus, Elder Bench is getting transferred. Yep, I am going to get a new companion and it will probably be a district leader unless they call me to be the district leader. Just all this stuff is happening to this mission and I have no clue how to react to it or what to do about it. Ugh, I am kinda glad I am almost done with this mission. I will still do my hardest till the end, but I am going to be sweating a lot of blood to keep sane.

Sorry for the short letter. Things are not happening frequently or exciting as they used to. Thank you for all your input about how BYU-I is and all that. I have been thinking about it for a while now and can't wait for that time to start. It will be a grand time and another hard working time as well. I have two questions before I go:

1. Is my ipod still good? 

2. People have been asking about my name and where it comes from. I tell them Italian. Am I right? Also, who were the ancestors that came from Italy or wherever this name originated from. If you could tell me that would be great! Love you all! See ya!

Weird crap is going on...

Sooooo...some wierd stuff is going on in this ward and we are not too exactly sure to do with it. First off, remember Josh? Well, here is the situation we have at hand. Brother Tinney, who is Josh's father in law wants to baptize him in about two weeks. Josh is not ready at all. He hasn't done anything we have asked of him and we believe he is doing this just so he can please his father in law. He has moved to Crowness Pass however so I guess he is technically out of our area and other missionaries responsibility. But this still leads to another problem. Brother Tinney wants to baptize Josh at Kootany Lake near Creston. He hasn't even asked the Bishop or our Mission President. He has problems with authority and is just going to do this because he wants to. That is probably going to get him disfellowshipped. :/ So we are going to talk to our mission president tomorrow because it is zone conference and see what he will say on the matter. We hope to figure out how to solve this problem.

Not much progress has been made on the matter of lost sheep because no one wants to answer the door or members won't freakin tell anyone about anybody. It is a really frustrating time with these lost sheep stuff because they weren't like the last ward when we did them in. In Bow Valley, people actually reported and did the lost sheep work that they were assigned. But here, they don't. They just basically dumped it on us and only us to work with these people. Sure it is busy work and keeps us working, but without member help on this matter can be really frustrating at times. Oh well, can't say much or do much about it. It really is all dependent on the ward council to do anything on the subject matter.

Also, some really terrifying things are happening around our area. In Lethbridge recently, there was a killing of 3 people and police were everywhere searching for the killers. Then, just last night, a 17 year old sliced a 45 year old womans neck and went to an apartment complex which some missionaries in our zone were and was knocking on doors to get help. Let's just say that the missionaries are in a bit of shock now and are pretty scared to leave their apartment now because of this tragic experience. They are going to move apartments soon, but still it was a pretty scary experience. I am just glad we are a bit far from that kind of stuff. Still pretty close, but still far enough. 

So now that Josh is kinda out of our area, that leaves us with no investigators at the moment which is not new to me. Happens to most of the missionaries out here. So, we are going to give these members one more chance and ask them to see if they can help us find investigators or give us a couple names to stop by. Some of them are pretty missionary minded, but they don't act on it as much as we hope to. You guys basically know my stance on member missionary work and all that. So it will come to no surprise that I think that is the best option we have for this area.

As for Mothers day Skyping: On Mother's day, we have dinner with the family that Mom wanted here to hug me for her. We are thinking that we will skype then and there. We are going to ask her if that is still alright. Early evening is totally fine with me. What exact time is the best for you guys? Just let me know and I can look back on my email and see.

Alright question time!

Question #1:Have you used up all your gift cards that I gave you? 

I have used all of them except for $5 left on my Tim Hortons card. Thank you so much again for these and I really do use them!

Question #2: Do you know who the new mission president is going to be?

I believe I answered this question already, but his name is Steven P. Miles. President recently send us a bio on him and his wife. I will put an attachment on it at the end of this email.

Question #3: Do you know exactly when the new mission president is scheduled to arrive?

At the end of June I believe. We are not quite exactly sure, but that is the general date.

Question #4: When do you have your interview with your current mission president to determine the exact end date of your mission?

I am not sure exactly sure how the getting ready to go home process goes out here. I think I get my "trunkie papers" where it tells me what flight I am going on and when I am going soon. 

That is all I believe. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday. By the way, my new piano video should be up on facebook now. Check it out! Love you all!

Smylski Photos

Hi Carrie This is Stephanie Smylski Look who I found? (End of April 2015)

(End of May 2015)

Same old missionary work, same old missionary day

It is just a typical missionary day. The same things that get repeated over and over and over again on the mission. Sometimes they can get boring and you can get sick of them. I think I am heading towards that stage. Though I am not sick of the mission or want to go home before I am supposed to go home, I am getting bored of missionary work. Meh, I am still going on strong till the mission is over and it will be over pretty soon.

Lost sheep has taken a little break since we don't know much about these people. We have a plan with the whole lost sheep thing. We ask members at church to see if they know about 4 names we pick from the lost sheep list and if they know any, they tell us and all that. It has been doing alright so far. We just have to keep doing this till we get all of the lost sheep names done which is a lot!

We had a lesson with Josh this week. Their family always loves to invite missionaries over no matter what they are doing. Usually, every ward has this type of family and I love it because it helps fill in our time and get to gain their trust. Anywho, it was a short lesson with Josh. We just basically told him our expectations of when we come over. He has been taught everything, but we are not sure he cares much about it or to take it seriously. He has expressed that he has learned a lot more than he has been before. Now whether or not he is doing much about it, we don't know. He "does" want to get baptized, but he wants it to be in a lake in BC.That will be a lot of confusing work and talking with other stakes and such. I say "does" because he is just doing it mostly because Brother Tinney, his father in law, told him to do it. We are trying to help him want to do it.

Other than that, like I said at the beginning of this letter, it is just the same missionary day. Not much has changed. I am glad you guys got my package from Pincher Creek. I believe you can open up that one. The stuff in there are still mine, but you can look through it if you want if you haven't already. The other one should be coming soon.

Next week will be our zone conference and it will be President Nicholas' last one as well. Pretty odd that he has been here for all my mission so far. He looks a lot different than what he did look like when I first saw him in the air port. I believe you got those pictures of our entire transfer coming to the airport. If you didn't just let me know and I can send a picture of it to you in my next letter.

Alrighty then. It is question time!

Question #1, do the ward organizations play an active part is searching out these lost sheep? 

They can. In Bow Valley Ward it was kinda divided up into separate quorums and other groups. Here however, it seemed they just dumped in all on the missionary organization meaning us and the Ward Mission Leader. I am not complaining on it, but I believe having others do it would be a bit better seeing they know them better than just missionaries.

 Question #2, what has been a way or two that the Lord has answered your prayers this past week or so?

He blessed the food that nourishes and strengthens our body...next question. JKJK! Hmmmm, well, we didn't think Josh would make any progress or even be interested after he got married, but it seemed that it made him even more interested than before. We were kinda stunned to see him at church that one time and to say that he believes in a God now where before he had no clue.

Question #3, what has been a memorable experience where you have been teaching during your mission where you and/or your companion were teaching, felt the Spirit, and you stopped to testify and help understand to who you were teaching that they were feeling the Spirit?

Mmmmmmm, well...kinda. When we teach as missionaries, we are told that testifying is very key. So we are basically told to testify frequently as possible so that we can say we know what we are teaching is true and not just telling them. When we first taught Kade, we were just thinking of teaching him the 1st lesson because we had to hurry for him to get baptized on time. However, me and Elder Wiser just suddenly testified all about families seeing that it was the most important thing to Kade and all who were present there. That was pretty cool.

Question #4: So is Tyler Belliston older than you?  What position did he play on the team?

Tyler Belliston is 2 years older than me and he played running back and line backer on the varsity team.

Question #5: How often have you been able to give a lesson?

That depends on what your definition of a lesson is. At the end of every dinner usually we give a message which is a short thought we had or spiritual thought. We as missionaries here call that a message. Lessons are usually those discussions you read in Preach My Gospel. We also call them Discussion, The Missionary Lessons, etc. But we usually give about 2-3 lessons per week. Messages, everyday so like 7 per week.

Well, that is all for this week. So far for mothers day, I believe we are free anytime. We just need to figure out who we are skyping at. Hopefully I can tell you next week. Love you all! Take care!