Epilogue

Dear Readers,

My last week was perfect. Vladimiro was baptized, our night at president's was great. My parents got into the airport (i got there late and wasn't there waiting for them, but we found them with no trouble) President Torgan gave me one last hugs, and passed me off to my parents, and that was the last time i talked to him.

Our vacation was excellent, but the most meaninful parts were on the weekend. Saturday they announced a temple in portugal. Those who read my blog who aren't members or the church won't quite get the significance of having a temple, when i think about it i'm not quite sure how to explain how important it is. The Temple is the house of the Lord, and is where the gospel, which begins in baptism, is made complete in our life.

Sunday we ate lunch at Mariazinha, which also was a powerful experience. Were it not for anything else that happened in the past two years, that family made my whole mission worth while.

The flight how was long but uneventful, and now i'm home. I could try to sum up everything i know, but it would take a while, sufficeth to say: God lives, and answers prayers, anyone can discover this for themselves if they ask, seek, and knock. Thanks for all your support and everything. I love you all. The End

~Ammon

Tomorrow

hey, fyi, i'll be at the airport waiting for you. Other than that, we'll talk when i get here.

love,

Ammon

I would ask if all is done

Dear Family,

Thanks for your letters. This week was great. We marked Vladimiro for baptism this next saturday, he's doing great. We went and taught him today, he's excited. It's funny, the first time i talked to him, he spoke broken english i sort of passed him off as one of those guys that talks to the elders but doesn't really go anyway. I'm really glad we stopped him once and went to his house. Other than that, people are doing good. Graziele didn't make it to church this week, she's running into a lot of opposition, nothing big, just lots of little things. Friends show up from out of nowhere saturday night and so she doesn't make it to church. People invite her to come visit their church when we have lessons marked. Things like that. Anyway, today we're going to have a lesson with her and a married couple from the ward. We've been teaching her with Otávio, who is great, but is young, and we're not exactly old, and we're realizing we need to bring more mature influences.

Carregado (another ward) had a baptism here on saturday, and as we were on our way up, Elder Rivera suggested that we go pass by Sidney. Sidney is a good kid, we taught him a couple times, but when we invited him to go to church he said he didn't like it. He just didn't quite get it. Anyway, out of the blue, he said, "sure" and came to the baptism, and loved it. Sunday morning, all by himself, he woke himself up and got to church, and loved it. It's tough to teach him during the week because of school, but he's excited for church and we're going to teach him on the weekend. There's always a moment, or a few moments, when everything clicks, and people start to act.

This week we had Zone Conference, it was good, I, and a bunch of missionaries from my district, bore our 'last testimony'. The whole thing was very sweet, i was remembering a lot of moments on my mission, from the MTC, from other zone conferences, and from being in Benfica. I've had all but 3 of my zone conferences in Benfica. The whole thing is all very strange. It honestly just feels like another week.

Oh, i have to say how Vladimiro got marked for baptism. Usually the baptismal invite is the climax of all the teaching and it's very well prepared and very spiritual. On saturday we had a barbeque and Elder Rivera was introducing Vladimiro to all the members and talking about when they had been baptized (the majority of people there were relatively recently baptized) and the elder Rivera said that Vladimiro was preparing for baptism also. Vladimiro responded, "Yes, i was thinking about next weekend" and so Elder Rivera suggested saturday, and out of nowhere he was set. He is so ready though. He used to drink aobut 10 cups of coffee a day, just before we started to teach him he decided to quit, and quit, and hasn't had a problem since then. I am really greatful that, the last real week of my mission, i'll end with a baptism. Nevertheless, we have a bunch of people who are doing really well, and our plan is to have someone for the week after that also, at General Conference on sunday night. I can't really think of anyway that would be better to spend the last night in the country.

When Elder Teixeira was here, he talked a lot about the way we finish our missions. He made very good point: He asked us to think back on the Lords mission on the earth, and what he did in his last week. Most of the most important things that happened during his life happened in the last week, even the last few days. It was a good thing to think about and be motivated to work hard until the end. It would have been pretty disastrous if Christ had slacked off in his last few days.

Another cool thing we did for the first time this week: We got a bunch of pass along cards and wrote our numbers on them and went from store to store (there are about a million little stores in portugal) and asked if we could leave them on the counter. With only one acception, everyone said yes and was extremely nice about it. Missionaries get this feeling that portuguese people are mean. It's really untrue, they're just not too interested in discussing religion, but they're great people, for the most part. As we were walking along the street today we got a call from some random person, we think he might have gotten one of these cards, we marked for wednesday, so that will be exciting. Alverca is incredible, by the way, we have a meal almost everyday this week, and two days with two meals. I'm so glad i got to stay here.

Well, you guys have a great week, pray for Vladimiro. I'll talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Ammon Perkes

Days Fly By

Dear Family,

Sorry about last week, i had planned to take half an hour later that day but i didn't get back to alverca until 6:30 and we had lessons to teach. We went and played Ultimate Frisbee in Alameda, in lisbon, which is probably one of the coolest places i've played ultimate frisbee in my life. I wish i had some pictures, but go on google maps and you can check it out.

The last two weeks have flown by and lots has happened. About two weeks ago, as we were walking a lot a car pulled over to talk to us. They told us they were from Angola, and wanted to know where the church was. So most of that family have been investigating the church in angola for several months, but their brother Helder and his wife Solange live here in Alverca. They got married a few weeks ago (we actually saw their wedding when they were taking pictures in the park) They're awesome. They came to church last week (this week they were in the Algarve on their honeymoon) and loved it, and have a very sincere desire to know if it's true or not. President tells us to always pray when choose a date for when people will get baptized, and we also pray about our goals for baptisms we'll have each week. A lot of missionaries talk about how they have no one to baptize, but president always points out that the Lord could easily bring in a whole family from another area that's just ready for baptism. When this angolan family of five popped up out of nowhere, you can imagine that we were excited. They had been to church tons of time, it was perfect. But when we prayed about it i felt very clearly that they weren't ready for baptism that week, and we made plans for Helder and Solange, we went there, and the rest of the family wasn't even there, and they didn't come to church on sunday, but Helder and Solange did. I read a talk about how we should be careful as we pray for answers, that we humbly accept the will of god. It said that a prompting to do something that we would otherwise not want to do is a good sign of authenticity, while feelings to do something we have a great desire to do should be examined cautiously. It was good to know that i'm not just reaffirming my own desires, and that i was able to receive a "no."

We found another guy named Vladimiro. The day before we taught him he got baptized in another church, and when we told him we'd like to visit him he said, "ah, but i'm from a different church"

"No problem!" I replied. Surprisingly that was enough for him and he happily accepted a commitment. This sunday he went to our church right after the other church. He's understandably a little confused. We read the Joseph Smith History with him and told him he should pray, i'm excited for him though, he has a very sincere desire to know what to do.

Francisco continues to come to church but still hasn't been able to stop smoking, although he is making progress. We're teaching lots of people, and it seems like people just keep coming out of the woodwork. I'm working with a new technique for contacting that i wish i had done my whole mission. First of all i only contact men. I made that decision at the beginning of this transfer and it's been great, we're teaching a lot more families and couples and a lot few single women and youth. Secondly i just talk to people who look at us. Your average person just walks by with their eyes fixed on the ground, someone who looks at us is guaranteed to at least be mildly curious about who we are. It's a pretty effective way to find families who are interested.

Our ward, two weeks ago, received a bunch of new pass along cards and the members are pretty excited about them. It's great to hear stories about them giving cards to friends and strangers. This ward is the best, we had lunch with members every day this week. We didn't even do shopping.

I think the best comparison for a mission is not a race, but a twilight paddle against the current on the pearl river, after paddling on the strong river all day long. But i don't think as many people have done that, that's probably why it's not as common.

As far as days vs months, it honestly feels about the same, because the reality hasn't really sunk in, although it hits me from time to time. I'm working really really hard not to count days, ever since a conversation i had about Dad about 2 years ago about not counting down the days but enjoying the moment, i've worked hard to not think about it. I also read a talk this week (i've been reading the ensign alot) about a treasure map for happiness: learn from the past, prepare for the future, and live in the present. So i've been trying to do that for these last couple weeks.

So, that's about what's going on. You guys have a great week, we're doing good out here.

love,

Ammon

August 30, 2010

Dear Family,

Today i'm in benfica for a bit, we had zone leader council, it was really great. But i don't have a whole lot of time, so i'll be quick. This week was good, some great stuff, and some dissapointments. Araujo, who was doing so great, decided out of nowhere to go to brasil, and is now there for a month. It was sort of a shock for us. Graziele and Tiago are doing well, but they're not going to be baptized this week, we're going to talk to them tonight, if we get home on time, and try to set up a new date for them.

On saturday, we did a really cool experiment. Elder Rivera is a great missionary, he's very excited to work, but one of the most impressive things is his courage to try new things. We went to a park and drew the plan of salvation on the wall in chalk and then contacted families that were walking by. It was a cool idea, and in the end we got the address of a moldovian family who was super nice. We're going to try it again this week, and try to find a more populated area to do it in, in the park there weren't a whole lot of people, but that chalk, if we don't scrub it off, will stay there until it rains, and it's been pretty hot and sunny, so who knows what will come out of that. I was afraid to write our number because you never know when you're breaking some minor law, so we just left a couple pamphlets next to the mural. I'll try to get a picture of it and send it for you.

What else happened...Francisco is doing great. He's said today is the day he quite smoking, he's been coming to church on time and on his own, which is spectacular. We're teaching a bunch of families and couples, we marked a lesson with this beautiful little family who are friends of some of our members. We're going to teach them, Edson and Daiane, tomorrow afternoon. We're excited for them. It's always fun to teach people for the first time. In the first lesson, you're so full of hope and faith for the people.

I gave a talk in sacrament yesterday, among other things, i talked about the power of member in missionary work. I commented about how i'm excited to be able to do missionary work as a member and not as a strangely dressed foreiner who barely speaks the language. I always wonder, giving talks, if it really makes a difference to people. Teaching lessons we can tell if people got it when we invite them to do stuff and then follow up on it, but in church you just hope that something you said can touch someone. I had a lot of good experiences this week, we gave a blessing to Leolinda's daughter, who was struggling in several things. We heard from leolinda later that week that they had seen miracles happen in her daughter's life. The mission really is great. I've been thinking a lot about this last month and how i want to finish. I want to finish well. Today i got my "anti-trunky" papers, with some instructions for the end of my mission, and a few talks to help keep me inspired. I'm pretty inspiried, this month ought to be the best of my whole mission, but that basically requires me to work better than i ever have before. But Elder Rivera has a good influence on me, and we have a lot of potential in this area. This thursday we have a lunch-lesson with a member and her daughter and grandchildren, none of whom have been baptized, so we're praying that that goes well. This is basically the perfect opportunity, which doesn't happen as often as it ought to.

Anyway, i'm out of time, so i'll talk to you guys more next week.

Abraços para todos,

Elder Ammon

August 23, 2010

Dear Family,

This week was good, we're seeing a lot of people coming out of the woodwork. Araujo and Graziele are doing well, they're excited to come to church and activities, and are reading and praying. They always comment on how good they feel, the peace and relief and joy that the gospel brings to their lives. It's such a blessing to teach them, i told them this week that we also feel joy and renewed energy every time we teach them. It turns out Araújo is married, but has been having a hard time with his wife recently. I didn't really know what to tell him, but i explained to him about the bishop and why he's there, and he's excited to talk to Macsuel on wednesday at the activity. It would be incredible to see not only Araújo get baptized, but his marriage saved because of the gospel. I just realized that here in a couple weeks, you're going to be able to meet these people. It's a shame you don't speak portuguese, you should look into that over the next few weeks. Francisco came to church again, all by himself. He's still struggling to quit smoking, but he's making some progress. We made him a little box of scriptures to read when he's tempted to drink cigarettes. Also Isabel came to church this week. She got there at the beginning of sacrament meeting and in the commotion right after church i didn't even get to talk to her, but she sat with Leolinda, who is being a friend, and sort of a mom to Isabel. We're hopeful for her, we've never actually taught her because her work schedule is tough, but she's come to a few activities and then came to church for the first time this week.

Speaking of activities, on wednesday, our integration night (this week, Jell-o) went crazy. Between Elder Mateer's last day, Elder Seraim passing buy (to pick up Elder Mateer) and the kids from EFY teaching us EFY dances and games, some which are just waiting for a perkes family reunion, it was sort of absurd. It was a lot of fun though, this ward is so great. It was a really special last day for Elder Mateer and probably a sort of shocking first day for Elder Rivera. Elder Rivera is doing well, it's his first time being zone leader, he's excited to serve. He brings some needed excitement to the area and the zone. We're still getting to know each other. The mission is weird, i had a dream last night that we got home and Elder Oram, and a bunch of other missionaries that have already gone home, were hiding in our house and jumped out and tried to scare us. It's just strange how these people you really only know for a few weeks or months become such an important part of your life.

We've been seeing some good results of member work. It's not very quick, but it's getting there. On monday we had a nice little family night with Leolinda's two daughters who aren't baptized yet. And Leolinda's going to invite them again today. Also, Neusa came to church on sunday, Neusa is Dora's sister. I don't know how much of this story i've told already, but Dora and her family were baptized a while ago, and when we first got here, we went to their house and talked to them about their friends and family, and at some point Dora called her sister and handed me the phone, i was sort of caught off guard, but she was very nice, and she accepted a lesson with the missionaries there on saturday. In the end her daughters, dora's neices, both got baptized and have been doing great. This was the first week Neusa came to church, and the first time i met her in person, so that was cool. I've also been noticing that we're teaching a lot of couples and a few families. I've been trying to focus on finding families, i'm now in the habit of checking for rings whenever we meet people to see if they're married, and we just keep running into people that are legitimately married, with kids and such. It's been great.

The mission got 20 greenies this week, one of them is serving in our ward, Elder Knuth. It was fun to talk to him, i realized that he has more years left than i have months. He's from Oregon. Elder Rivera, by the way, is from Kearns, Utah, i don't remember why that city means anything to me, but i recognized it and feel like i know someone from there or something.

Lets see, I can't think of much else that's going on. The Mission is just going. I'm excited for the people we're teaching, we have a lot of good people right now. Rude and Fábio finally are back from vacation, so we're excited to see what happens there. I say we, but Elder Rivera is sort of lost, he's doing is best, but he's having a hard time keeping track of everybody we know. Especially because, as i'm sure you guys have noticed, people here have the craziest names.

have a fantastic week,

abraços all around

Elder Ammon

August 16, 1010

So, the transfer news is in, and in the end i'm staying in Alverca for my last transfer. I'm going to be serving with Elder Riveira, who's coming up from Campo Pequeno. He's one of the district leaders in our zone, so i've talked to him a lot this transfer. He's a good missionary, and has been doing impressive work in Campo Pequeno. Elder Mateer is going to the Açores (to São Miguel, not the air force base), so he's pretty excited. It's weird. On friday i filled in my planner for my last transfer. Usually things slow down a little bit during the beginning of the transfer, so hopefully the next few weeks won't go as absurdly fast as the last three weeks. It's weird.

This week was good. We (mostly me) made a goal to not knock doors this week, wanting to plan more intelligently and work with the members. It was different, we didn't find very many new people, and didn't teach too many lessons but for the most part the week was a lot more effective, and the lessons we taught were real lessons. We visited the members and made plans with them to teach their friends, we talked to ex-investigators and followed up on the potentials and new people we've been finding over the past few weeks. For this last month and a half i want to work hard to work with the members and teach their friends with them. Today in a couple hours we have a family night (more of a family afternoon really) with Leolinda's daughter, Marisa.

Francisco came to church again, this time without us having to go pick him up. He's still struggling to quit smoking, we're going to teach him again on tuesday and make a plan with him, but there's no real trick to it, he just needs to have faith to stop. But he's doing well.

Yesterday we had one of the most powerful lessons of my mission. We taught Graziele, Tiago, and Araiujo, three brasilians we found a couple weeks ago. We taught them last sunday afternoon but we didn't get much time to talk to them. We had left a book of mormon with Graziele and she had started to read, but said she wasn't understanding it at all. All we did with them yesterday was read together 3 Nephi 11, explaining things occasionally, but mostly just reading. The spirit was really strong, when we finished the chapter she said, "I understood it perfectly, why did i understand it this time?" We talked about how the holy ghost teaches us and helps us understand scripture and things. We were there with Otávio (who is a champ) and he also taught and testified about the restoration. In the end we invited them to prepare for baptism on the fourth. There's still a lot to do between then and now, but it was a great lesson. It's amazing, we left that lesson happier than we've been the whole transfer, not just because they set a date, but because of the spirit we felt there. As we were leaving, Araiujo thanked us, and said that we had taked a great weight off his shoulders. It was a very good end to our day and our transfer, neither of which had gone exactly as planned.

We also taught Jocylane a couple times this week, i talked about her last week i believe, she's doing ok, she's bummed out because her boyfriend broke up with it, and she doesn't quite get it. Today i was reading king benjamin's talk, i was impressed with the way he invited his people to listed and pay attention so that they will understand. I feel like a lot of times in our lessons people don't do that. They listen, but they don't open their hearts, nor their minds. We had that with Jocylane, who it didn't seem like anything got in. Her daughter, however, is back from porto and continues to be sharp as a tack and understands everything and asks very good questions when she doesn't.

We tried to have an activity in the Vila Franca chapel, but in the end it didn't get approved and we got moved back to alverca, but we had a good little Noite do Gelado, a more or less active member brought his girlfriend, Isabel, who seemed liked it and had a nice conversation with Leolinda. There are some superstar recent converts here in Alverca, on saturday the whole ward went to the beach (we didn't feel confident enough to ask president to go, nor did we feel like it would be the best use of our time) and a lot of good integration.

We also ran into Tucha again, you'll remember that she dissapeared about a month ago. She's been working two jobs and hasn't had a whole lot of time these days, but we had a good lesson with her. It seems like right now isn't her time.

In retrospect, i learned a lot this transfer, and i'm glad to be able to stay here until the end. Yipes. I'm doing my best to stay focused, and i feel like i'm doing well to keep working and not get lazy or slack off. It's just sort of a fact now that my mission is nearly over. Even president, in our inverview this week, said that i was nearly at the end. And our interview was almost more reminiscing than anything else. I'm realizing it just depends on the way you let it effect you. You can't just ignore the fact that your almost done, it's not possible. The idea is to look towards the finish line and let that motivate you to give everything. At least that's what i'm thinking. We'll see how that goes.

So that was our week here, it flew by, like always. You guys have a great week. It'll be interesting to see what happens this week. I think things are going to start going now, not because Elder Mateer was holding back, but i feel like we finally figured out what we need to do here, and now we just need to work.

Um Grande Abraço,

Elder Ammon