Week 34 -- HUMIDITY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom!

I am doing wonderful. Elder Rothlisberger is amazing and Bowling Green is a party.

This week was a bike week and service week. I know what humidity is now. We did service for two sisters in the ward. One lady was in the first ward, Sister Polasio. She has a bunch of bunnies and asked us to build something to hold up the cages. So we started to build something like what grandpa has at his house. We did it in a old barn and it was HUMID! In like 5 minutes you sweat 5 gallons haha. But it builds character and discipline.

Then in our ward, there is a lady who Elder Tondevold taught and later got baptized, Sister McDonald. She is a horse lady. She calls them her kids. She found a place to put her horses for a couple months until she finds a farm to lease to put them on. So we helped her fence off a pasture that she is leasing now. I pounded all the t posts since Elder Rothlisberger has a bad back. And I am a wimp. My hands were killing me the day after! We had to finish that night! But it was worth it.

The coolest thing was she had invited her friends to come over for supper the 2nd night we helped and we got to talk with them. Her friend Rick helped us fence and he was asking me lots of questions! I think he was surprised that I was 19 and from Arizona and that I was out in Kentucky for 2 years to talk to random people about the gospel. He really respected that and thought that it was cool.

Then on Wednesday, Brother Higdon had a friend for us to teach, but we helped him around his farm as well. They had electric fence all around. I needed to fill up the bucket with water from the pond and it was on the other side. So I climbed over and got the water and put the water on the other side. Brother Higdon said the fence was on low or off. So I grabbed it and made sure I didn't feel anything.  I started to climb in between the wires then SHOCK! It made me flip through and go like 5 yards forward haha! It hurt but was funny. Then Bro Higdon grabbed the fence told my comp to grab his hand.  I was to grab my comps hand, and me being dumb enough I grabbed his hand and it shocked me again! haha it was crazy.. But after all that we taught the guy who owns the farm Ken Kessler. He is going through alot but had a spiritual lesson out at his house. He really enjoyed it and wants us to come back.

Later on that day we got a call from a less active lady who said her friend wanted to meet us. So we went over and  picked up Sister Boyd and drove where she had told us too. We ended up at a old country side of the road diner. We ate there and taught a killer lesson! He invited us back the next week and hopefully he will be interested! I think the ward is starting to trust us more and more as we go over and talk with them or do service for them and their friends. They are giving us lots of referrals of people to see and less actives to go see with them.

I am glad I get to serve a mission because you learn so much of what not to do and what to do when I go back home. The gospel is what will keep you happy and successful in life. And that family's are very important and need to be centred on Jesus Christ. We run into Baptist and Church Of Christ who just try "do anti us" and make us feel bad. But I feel bad for them because they aren't seeing clearly.

We had people come up to us this week and say "as long as you believe in Jesus you are saved.". "I was saved in 78" "i can drink smoke do whatever and say Jesus is my Savior and be saved". I am just so thankful that I have came to know that the gospel has been restored and know that there is a prophet today.

Well I love you so much! Thanks for putting money in my account! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins

Week 32 - The Alpaca Challenge

Mom,

I am doing pretty dad gum good! As people say in Kentucky "finer dan frog hair" Haha!!!

This week has been pretty pretty busy.. Lots of work and we didn't have the car this week. But life is great!!! Now I know what humidity is after Tuesday. You sweat by the gallons!!! haha!!!

Mom, my eyes are whacked.  I started getting migraines a couple months ago but it wasn't anything serious.  It is like the surgery before the mission didn't work.  Brother Jeskie was talking to me and he said to come in for an eye exam, and he will tell me what is going on and get me some new glasses.  I just do not the headaches to get bad like before.

This week was a warm one! Monday night we had a little FHE with some members and they invited their friend Cindy! We watched Prophet of the Restoration Joseph Smith. She said it was interesting but of course didn't believe in the Book of Mormon. I asked have you read the Book of Mormon? She said no... But i just don't believe it. Then she said she didn't have one but long story short..... she came to church! It was wonderful.

Then we also have been doing tons of service! Elder Rothlisberger says its the desires of my heart.  Haha. We helped out Sister Painter in the 1st ward with her Alpacas! She has an Alpaca farm. Those Alpacas are the ugliest and meanest things in the world! We got to sheer the fur off them. Elder Rothlisberger cut the hair pretty good. I was the one to put the halter on, move them from place to place and wrestle them to the ground. Haha!!! I got bit, kicked, and spit on haha! I got the Alpaca, that kicked me, back pretty good. I body slammed it because it kept on fighting.  It was pretty funny. Sister Painter really appreciates us coming out and I think we are going back Thursday.

On Saturday we got a call from another lady in 1st ward asking for help cleaning out her barn! The roof had a leak and rotted all the wood in the loft part, and it had collapsed. So we tore wood out and made a huge bon fire. That also will take a couple more service hours till it is complete. Service is probably one of my favorite things to do.

Friday during our weekly planning, we got a phone call. And it was a 480 area code. Elder Rothlisberger was like "this can't be good" Haha!!! We were freaking out thinking something bad has happened. It was a new family who was moving in and was wondering if we could help them move in. It is pretty cool to meet all these people from Arizona.

I hope all is going well! And I can't wait to call yall on Sunday! I am really excited to hear from everyone. Time has flown by so fast since the last time I called. I hope you have a great week and are happy! Thank you for all that you do! Oh!! I got great news! They found my camera back in Murray! So I don't know if you had bought a new one or not. I just thought I should let you know. Love You lots.

Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins

Week 31 -- I will miss President Riggs

Mom!

I am glad y'all got the package! Y'all are gonna love the Amish country. They seriously are some of the nicest people y'all ever meet. Any who, I am glad that all is well back home. 

Aunt Hope emailed me also! It was really good to hear from her! I haven't seen them in forever. Probably because I stayed with Grandpa last summer during the fire and family reunion. I tell you what,  from what I learned about fencing and stuff, I sure use it a lot out on my mission. People hear that I have farmed and fenced a little then they put me to work.  I do not mind because the outcome is that we get to teach them the gospel. I really do love it.

This week we are hoping to go out and teach at least 3 families Scottsville, the country, and they have cows and lots of land. I am pretty excited! Also this week there is a recent convert in the other ward, Sister Painter, and she has Alpacas!!! Haha!!! And she asked us to come help her sheer them. She asked specifically for me to round them up and wrestle them to the ground. Elder Rothlisberger will have to record it.

This weekend we taught the family from Rwanda. Isack, the man from Rwanda, called and said that he was very happy and excited because his wife wants to be baptized now! So right now we are working with her and hopefully have a date for her by the end of the month. Also there is a sister in the ward who has two brothers that are probably in their 60's or 70's who raise cattle and farm who are wanting to be taught. So here in Bowling Green everything is going great! There is a lot of work to do, which is keeping us busy. And I am very thankful for that.

So remember Johnny? Well Bowling Green 2nd ward is his home ward. He is at BYU Idaho, but his family are probably one of my favorite families to go see. She treats me like Johnny and yells "BOY you better be good!" haha. Bro Jeskie told me that he was going to set up an appointment to get my eyes checked. So this week hopefully I can get that done and I'll tell you what's going on. I am just so thankful for this opportunity to be able to come serve a mission and to have such good family and friend support.

I meet missionaries whose parents are against them coming out on missions and they support themselves. They don't have someone to email besides President McKee on Mondays. It just makes me so happy for my family and friends. I am trying to become a best friend to those who are in need of one. I am learning so much and gaining so much experience that I could never have gotten if I had stayed home. I have learned that little things I do or say have big impact on people. Like sister Booher! She came one random Sunday and I just got transferred into Bowling Green and gave a talk. I was an answer to her prayers and now we are trying to go out and visit her weekly. Well I sure love you all so much and do miss you. But I am more than happy to be here in Kentucky. I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins

Week 30 -- 6th month Mark

Good Morning!

I am doing just dandy! How are you all? You know it has only gotten to like 83 or 85 degrees here and you sweat like a pig after 5 minutes... And that has only been a couple days. I am looking forward to when it gets warmer. HAHA!!! The work is great! We had the baptism on Saturday! Sister Elnora Brewer. She was so excited we took pictures and I got some printed out. So I will try to send some to y'all soon.

The beginning of the week was great. We went to Mammoth Cave for P-Day. It was pretty cool. It is the largest cave in the world I think. Or that's what the guide said. Then, we had AP interviews on WWednesday which was good. I got to talk to Elder Tondevold and he is just way too funny. He reminds me of Rhett and Conner Then we spent a day with Brother Higdon...... a 79 year old country man who is just a monster. He belonged to the Church of Christ for 30 plus years until he became a member of our church, 34 years ago. So he says he has been a missionary 34 years and will continue till the day he dies. He took us way out in the country close to TTennessee and just pillaged. We got in the car and he had a pile of books of Mormon and said he wasn't going to feed us supper till we had them all passed out.

We went out to the Amish country and talked to the Amish.  We went to the Amish market and got some stuff. The Amish people are way cool. Brother Higdon just goes around telling people that they need the Book of Mormon. He would be driving down a old back road then see some people down yonder and just swerve across the dirt road! Then he would get out and just walk towards the people and start sharing his testimony. But Brother Higdon is just awesome. I hope to continue to progress and strengthen my testimony and faith as I get older and older.

We also are continuing to teach those AAfrican families! They are just so great! They are so humble and happy. It was about time to go and they fed us supper. It was different but I ate it because they sacrificed that for us to eat. It's hard to teach them because we don't speak Swahili and they don't really speak English but it is going better!

There is a lady in the ward who said that she talked with you on facebook? I think her maiden name was Booher... its terrible that i can't think of her name but I will get her name for next week. 

I have noticed that the small and simple things you say to people can mean the most to them. When you bear your testimony simply and strong, the spirit can touch the hearts of everyone in the room. 

I sent a package to y'all today finally. Look for the Amish surprise!!! Well i am so glad that you are doing well. And thank you so much for all the sacrifices that you make. I am so thankful for you and love you very much. I hope you have a great week! Love you lots!

Love Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins

Week 29 -- First Baptism Date set

Hey Family!

I am doing great! Bowling Green is pretty awesome! It has a bit of everything like the projects, pretty country and the humble hillbilly people at the border of Tennessee. Elder Rothlisberger and I have set a date with an 83 year old lady to be baptized this SSaturday! Her name is Elnora Brewer.  Her daughter, Sister King just got re baptized two weeks before I got here. We also have been teaching two AAfrican refugee families! They are so fun to be around! They are always in a good mood. Elder Tondevold started his mission here and he baptized a man from Rwanda named Isaac. He went through so much in his life. He witnessed his wife and sister being murdered right in front of him in Rwanda. That made me even more thankful for being able to live in the United States. One thing they say a lot is "No problem. No worries." And if you remember on The Lion King they say hakunamatata. It is so fun to be able to teach those families.

We had a fireside last night. It was a Nashville missionary choir fireside. They are doing it all over our mission. It is like a concert where two elders teach a family and then the other missionaries, who volunteer to sing, sing songs that go along with what they are teaching. It was awesome!!! This is one time on my mission where I'll never forget or never deny of what I felt. Then after the fireside we had goodies and the missionaries went around asking for referrals and we got nine referrals! This morning two members called in and said that two people they knew wanted to be taught the lessons and be baptized! I was so shocked, which is bad I know but so thankful. It was a good way to start the p day.

Well mom I am sad to say but my watch and camera were stolen.... I couldn't find it in Murray and I asked Elder Clark to look and ask around but he said it wasn't there.. I am sorry. I am just upset because I had lots of cool pictures on there. Who knows, maybe it will show up one day in Murray. Besides that I am doing great! I hope that you are doing even better! I miss you and love you so much! and am definitely jealous of fishing and camping BUT am so glad that I am out on my mission! I think I can wait a little longer to do that stuff. Love you!

Love Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins

Week 28 -- Welcome to Bowling Green

Mom and Dad!

My first week in Bowling Green was great! My companion, Elder Rothlisberger is an answer to my many prayers!  He is just great! He works really hard and has a amazing testimony! and he is from St. Johns AZ! We know some of the same people, talk about the things we did up there and talked about all the lakes and stuff.   Its just great. He has heard of Belshe, but he thinks it is because of Uncle Jake and Uncle Matt. He said that wherever they went to play football... that school was good that year.  He's been to Grandma and Grandpa's Dairy Queen a lot.

We are living in the middle of Bowling Green, in an apartment complex. We have part-time car so we switch off each week. Bikes and walking are good for me.  I weighed myself because I thought my pants were getting a little more snug (they are fine) and i weighed 200 pounds on the dot.  When I left the MTC I weighed about 175 pounds. But members wanted me to tell you that they are making sure I eat LOTS of vegetables and fruits. Bless their hearts haha!!!

Drew's baptism sounded really fun! We go to other families and it reminds me sometimes of our families back home. Sister Harrison took a picture of Elder Rothlisberger and I and sent it to y'all. I look pretty tall in the picture for some reason. We went out with Brother Rienhart and Brother Croxall. Brother Rienhart is a professor at WKU and teaches genetics and biology.   He is awesome. He took us to Chinese the first night we went out. He is a favorite. Brother Croxall was in the air force and speaks like 8 different languages and is a spiritual MONSTER! He is always testifying and preaching the gospel... just a great man. My first day, Tuesday, Johnny picked us up took us around Bowling Green and told his mom that we were coming over for dinner. He showed us around his pretty awesome house and land. He leaves for Idaho on Wednesday. I am just glad I got to see him one more time before he leaves.

In Bowling Green their are a lot of refugee families from all over the world. We are teaching a family from Rwanda!! They are awesome! They don't really speak English, they speak Burundi? and Swahili?.... don't know how to spell either of them.. I thought Grandpa would think its cool to teach African families.  I know he really wants to go to Africa on a mission. They came to church yesterday and they loved it.

Well I sure do love you lots. I miss you tons and pray for you all the time. I hope that everything is going great! Have an awesome week!

Love Elder Perkins

Week 27 -- I am transfering to Bowling Green, Kentucky

Hey Dad and Mom!

I got my transfer call on Saturday..................... I am going to Bowling Green Kentucky!! Home of the National Corvette Museum.  I leave tomorrow to Nashville for the transfer meeting and then I'm headed back to Kentucky. My dream  was to go to Tennessee but the Lord wants me in Kentucky. And I am on his time right now and I'm glad I'm going to Bowling Green. Remember Johnny? It's crazy but that is his ward! I'm pretty excited! And my companion... even more crazy... is from where Uncle Jake played high school football! St. John's!! I haven't met him yet but next week I'll tell you about him!

Uncle Jake emailed me this week too! IT was awesome to hear from him! What he said is exactly what I needed. I feel bad because I don't have time to email him today but I will next week for sure!

The weather here is pretty nice too! It sure is getting humid though ha ha. You walk around outside for ten minutes and you are covered in sweat.  I'm excited for summer.

Conference was awesome too. Saturday we watched morning session with the Greene's but then they had to leave.  We walked down the hill to Papaw's..... and no one is home. We didn't have our car and no one was home. We were stranded out in the sticks in between sessions! Haha!!!! It was pretty funny I thought. But a miracle happened. Our phone worked and we got to call Papaw and he told us how to get inside from some back door. So luckily we made it to where we can watch conference.

That is pretty cool about Danielle and Devan doing good in school and in sports. I'm glad they are having fun. I sure do miss football.  To be honest, it is hard to think about it after the way my senior year in football ended. I wish I didn't have all those stupid concussions. Oh well life goes and life is great!

After Sunday morning session, Gracie came, I said my goodbyes to the ward. Some people teared up.  Brother Hightower told me he was going to whoop me for leaving him.  Haha!!! He is an o'l cowboy that has an accent where pillars mean pillows. It is pretty funny. We helped him out this week with tilling his garden so he and his wife can start planting.  Also this week I got to dig these big holes underneath a trailer to put support beams in. LOTS of spiders haha!!!!

It has been a great time here in Murray. I definitely learned sooooo much! And I am excited for my next journey to Bowling Green! Elder Tondevold said that it is country country, and that the Amish have a community out there. I love it.

Well Mom and Dad I sure do love you a lot! And am so thankful for all that you taught me and continue to teach me. I am thankful for all that you do for me. I hope that you have a great week!

Love Elder Vaughn Dee Perkins