Days Never To be Forgotten

Well this is it. My last email that I will be sending out to you guys. I'll be honest this past week has been the most bittersweet experience I've ever had. Two years have passed, but it feels like 2 months. I spent 6 months in Cote d'Ivoire, 4 at home, then 7 in Arizona, and then the last 5 back in Cote d'Ivoire. No one could have guessed it. I think my mission has had more plot twists than the Twilight Zone. However, as much uncertainty, limbo periods, or unexpected changes happened, I always felt uplifted and strengthened by Savior through the thick and thin.

It all started with my training, I had no idea what I was doing. I was confused, scared, and my head was spinning. Even through all that, the Lord presented me scriptures and experiences to assure me that this is His work and that He will help me get through the hard times. He just expected me to continue. I felt the same as Paul when he said to the Corinthians:

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

~ 1 Cor 2: 1-5

Even if I didn't know how to speak the language, and I was scared and tired, I could still lean on the Savior to strengthen me and empower me to bear testimony of His sacrifice for me. Even today I'm not perfect in teaching nor the language, but I know that the Gospel comes from God and I dont have to be afraid to share it!

As Oliver Cowdery was translating for Joseph Smith, he described the experience as... "These were days never to be forgotten." And I have the same sentiment as I look back at my mission. Never to be forgotten. If someone were to ask me, "Would you change it if you could? Get rid of COVID? Stay in your mission for the two full years?" As much as that would've been a pleasure to alleviate the pain and heartache of myself and so many other for the past two years. I think the Lord had other plans for me and for everyone. I would tell them no. My mission was crazy yes and it was definitely full of anxiety and disappointment, but I can definitely answer that question with a fervent NO. The time I spent at Arizona and even at home were such amazing experiences of growth, maturity, and perspective for me that I honestly wouldn't have gotten in my time here. 

That being said, I have cherished every last moment here in Cote d'Ivoire. Such an amazing culture, people, and country. From a little kid freaking out because he's never seen a white guy before, to always being offered food and water wherever you go, even if you're a complete stranger. I'll miss this place with great and a deep love that I've honestly never felt before. I love these people. And I know that God loves them as well.

And to Arizona the thirsty land. Thank you for teaching me so many lessons such as personal accountability, adequacy for oneself, and consecration. Met so many wonderful missionaries, members, and people that have taught me amazing lessons that I will cherish for decades to come. Thanks to President and Sister Eyre for all of their love and guidance during those crazy months of COVID by keeping it light and fun but still taking the work of the Lord seriously as we should. 

I'll get off my little soapbox here for the last time here in a minute but lastly I'd like to thank my parents, siblings, friends, and priesthood leaders for all supporting me though all of this and constantly letting me know that I was loved by God and by others! Special thanks again to President and Sister Lewis who have been such amazing examples of Christ-like leadership and discipleship. I'm so lucky to have been blessed with two amazing missions with two amazing mission presidents!

Well by the time you get this I'll probably be getting ready at the mission office and having departing interviews and testimonies! Our flight got moved from leaving at 10:30pm to 12:50am, so about 3 hours later. So we'll probably be chilling with the office missionaries until it's time to head out! I'll be going to Paris, then Atlanta, and then SLC at 5:30pm! I can't wait to see you all soon! On s'attrape!

Elder Perkins, signing off from the best two years(so far😉)

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I'm Singing! I'm in Africa and I'm Singing!

Well well well...looks like we have another week here folks. That means another email from Elder Perkins. Man will this guy ever finish his mission????

Yes sadly I will but NOT YET. Don't worry you'll have to deal with my emails for just a couple more weeks then you all will be free! I had a great and busy week! It honestly flew by super fast which makes everything harder and harder as I'm really getting ready to head home! However here's how my week went!

So this week we started doing rehearsals for this special choir that's performing this weekend. This professional choir director from France who's a member came down to do it and she's pretty awesome! Hearing her speak like actual French is a huge win but the downside is that we have rehearsal every day besides Saturdays and Sundays. So that means even my precious pday time is taken away...how dare they! But its super fun. We're singing a variety of songs from primary songs to beautifully arranged choir pieces. I'm just praying all goes well because if you remember my other emails about Africans singing, it doesn't always end well. But Soeur Defranchi is really putting us to work so that we actually sound good! So we had rehearsals all last week every morning and we are doing the same thing this week every morning. It's made days go by super fast since now we only have the afternoon and evening to proselytize. 

However, with all of the choir craziness, we have had some good times out at sector! Went on exchanges with Elder Kaba from the Congo and it was super fun! We also were able to find a bunch of new people this week. One lady named Anna is probably the epitome of Ivorian etiquette as she either buys us soda or makes us food every time we go over there because we are part of her family even though we are basically strangers. I love Ivorians. There's another family that we found and they are also super sweet and polite and pretty cool! They said they spent a couple years in Algeria and then next year they are planning on moving to either Canada or the U.S.! 

Of course I've been thinking a lot about home(shocker) but it seems like it all just melts away as I lose myself in these lessons and with these people still. Especially as I've looked back throughout my mission to see how far I've come and changed. I'm still me but I'm also a lot more now. And I will continue to do that even at home!

Also super fun because this one church was in our sector for a day and they literally gave out a brochure to everyone, including us. Why not? Is it bad to research other religions? Besides once we got home and took a look at it, we couldn't help but laugh and completely destroy all of its teachings because some were pretty out there doctrinally speaking so that was a laugh.

Well probably next week you'll see a basic long email talking about how much I loved the mission and all but this week y'all can chill with this normal email. Always know that GOD LOVES US. That is the first great truth of the gospel. Never forget it.

Till the next time,

Elder Perkins

Photos:

1. The baguette bisap boys. Bisap is a super sweet juice that comes from a hibiscus leaf and then a baguette is bread duh.

2. Pic of choir practice!

3. Somebody wuz a wittle tiward

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4-6. Trainer-Trainee meeting with Elder Okojie

Should I Write That Down?...Also 'MURICA

I was so busy with Youth Conference, that I forgot to post Elder Perkins 4th of July email! So these are out of order, sorry!

Yo yo yo how's everyone doing this morning? Time flies when you're having fun so it's crazy to see how much fun we're having but sad to see how fast it's going by as we're going hard in our sector and training! Lot's of stuff is happening as I'm prepping to go home, but at the same time there's a lot of work to do in this area so it's been fun to be busy with that!

What a week! Many many ups and downs this week with working in an area that hasn't been worked in a while. So that means finding all amis ourselves and getting members remotivated a little bit! The neighborhood also isn't used to seeing a white guy every day so that's led to some fun interactions. One lady walked up to us unprovoked, handed me her child saying "take him" and started walking away. I would've really freaked out if she didn't almost immediately turn back around and started laughing but thank goodness she did and we gave her a brochure so win win? Also many weird/drunk old guys stopping us in the street wanting to say how happy they are to see Christian missionaries in their neighborhood. It's actually pretty sweet, no matter how many times they repeat the same sentence.

Ok but honestly there have been moments where I forget how much I really have come in terms of French. No way perfect at all because A. I was gone for a year of the mish and B. African french isn't near perfect either so it's good for me but idk if my proper French speakers out there will enjoy hearing me at home. Nevertheless, as I'm training Elder Okojie and he's learning the language,(yes lots of "what language was she speaking?" but mostly it really is another tribal language🤣) I have memories rush back of when I was the exact same and couldn't spit out one sentence without stumbling. I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father who really did strengthen me through those rough language times and how I have this opportunity to help someone overcome the same trial!

So yes in case you were wondering, we did celebrate the 4th of July as best as we could. Sadly, we aren't allowed to handle fireworks BUT my roommate is a pretty dang good cook so we all helped in making fried chicken that's de-boned(a VERY rare delicacy here), also corn on the cob, and potato salad! It honestly was pretty delicious! Even the Africans liked it!(usually they don't like american food...) We also sported our american flag boubous that are pretty common here actually. In all it was a mighty day to remember our country and to eat a little more like home for a day. Pics of all that below

In all it's been a great week! I hope everyone's 4th was great and we can still have an eye fixed on the Glory of God and of hope for the future! Keep going, keep trying, keep falling, keep picking yourself back up, and most importantly keep becoming!

Elder Perkins 

PHOTOS

1-2. Our sector covers a lot of the lagoon so some cool pics of that. The second is the view from an ami's house so that's sick.

3. I always seem to find another african child who is more sassy than the last! Her names Abo and the first thing she said to me was "I'm not scared of you"

4. Scrumptious 4th of July meal. We also made scones which didn't make the pic. Corn was a little rough though but still decent.

5. Someone didn't get the memo. Elder Gifford(no american pride at all) is going home with me in a couple weeks so we're getting ready.

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Dream Dream Dream Dream Dream Dream

Hey everybody! Here's another email for y'all from Elder Perkins! I'm doing great and I'm having lots of fun! Let's dive into the week.

So if you didn't know, Africans are all about dreams. We know the stories from the bible and from church history of dreams affected people's lives. However, we sont get too much of that anymore in the States nowadays. Africa still has that over here and it's awesome! I've heard so many dreams from very concerned people wanting to know if God was angry at them or not. Now I'm no Joseph of Egypt or anything so I'm not much of an interpreter. However some of their dreams can be pretty wild and it makes me believe that Heavenly Father really does use dreams to nudge people in the right direction sometimes. I heard two stories this week that were super interesting.

First story is from an ami. He basically was traveling the world and had a bunch of stuff because his work was scamming people on the internet. However, he fell sick one day and even fell into a coma. During the coma, he had a dream of a bright man standing in front of him. He couldn't see his face but he asked him a question. "Do you see what you life is like? Do you think I'm happy with this?" And He also asked the question "What do you think I want you to do?" And the ami answered to repent. After that he woke up from his coma and he left all of that worldly stuff and became a Christian, trying to follow biblical principles and to lead a good life. Pretty crazy right? Btw if it sounds familiar, it does. *cough* Alma the Younger *cough* Super Cool!

Second story comes from the bishop in our ward. He was super against joining the church for a while as his family was trying to convert him. He met with missionaries a lot but he just wouldn't listen. He then dreamt that one day it was raining super hard and the missionaries took shelter in his living room, while they were their he asked three questions. That was it. But when he woke up, he remembered that his dream said that would happen a year from that day. Lo and behold a year later, he found himself in his living room with the missionaries, it pouring rain outside, and he asked them his three questions. He didn't realize it until afterwards and he took it as a sign from God. Now he's a bishop. Crazy story!

Besides the dreams, we had a great week! Lots of getting to know the sector and the members! Finding lots of new people as well! There's this one little girl named Lafélicité who is probably one of the smartest and most polite girls I have met here! Another is a true African Mama who called to us on the street by "Les Elders!" So we went by and she said the missionaries taught her a while ago but they stopped coming. Probably covid caused that. Anyway her name's Mama Djoma and she's super nice and very passionate about God so that's going to be fun as well!

3 weeks to go! I'm working and training my comp as much as I can before I head back to the States. Still got the last leg of the race to go, but the end is definitely in sight! Have a great week everyone and I wish you all the best!

Elder Perkins

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Alma 26 just all of it

Bonjour à tous! This week has been pretty fun with it being transfers and getting my trainee. I hope everyone is doing great and has had a great start to their summer! I hear it's pretty hot over their which is funny because the rains have cooled it off over hear so we're fine over here now!

So here's my week! Since I didn't get my trainee until Thursday night,  I was put together with the district leader in my old zone, who is training as well. Elder Doudou, an Ivorian, will go down in my mission history as my 3-day companion lol. I was in his area so it was fun to get to know some new people! 

Okay so Thursday night was when I finally got my trainee! His name is Elder Okojie and he's from Nigeria! I've only been with him a couple days but its already been fun! Being from Nigeria, he speaks English and is learning French, which makes it fun for me because I have to basically carry everything for a little bit while he gets adjusted. Awesome! But he's super humble, honest, and sweet and I'm so grateful for the short time I'll be spending with him!

My new area of Kouté is pretty cool! It literally borders my training area so I know it pretty well. Back in my training, we didn't have phones with the area maps so we would just work wherever the people lived who came to our church building. Meaning we would teach people that actually lived in the Kouté area instead of Beago. It's just funny to think that while I was working in my training, I was also working in my last area, unbeknownst to me!

Honestly, it's been a little hard coming into an area where work hasn't been done in a while. There wasn't much to go off of so we were just trying to call everyone on the short list of amis and potentials we have  and also the ward leaders. It was funny since I was using some Stateside mission tactics in getting into contact with people so that took me back! Probably the first time since I've been here that there's been more calls than lessons in the schedule haha. This week is going to explode with new amis and much potential as we are seeing amis, members, and finding people along the way! I love this work!

So I have some roommates now! Elder Angerbauer(we have the same birthday) and Elder Kaba(a super chill Congolese) are gonna make my last transfer super fun! The apartment is way nice, mostly due to the washing machine so my hand washing days are behind me at last! 

Anyway, as I'm looking at a little over a month to go, I've been pondering and thinking a lot of what my mission means to me. And it's been really hard. I have so many thoughts, experiences, stories, etc. that I have seen shape and refine me, but it's so difficult to really express everything my actual thoughts on all this. I'm going to spend most nights in my journal to really spend time trying to get my thoughts down on what this all means to me now and in the years to come! All I can say right now is that I LOVE my mission. No regrets. No second thoughts. Only joy and glory that comes from the Almighty!

Keep it real my friends. Don't forget who you are and what you stand for. Choose the right. Put your shoulder to the wheel. Push along. Push along.

Elder Perkins

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The Final Countdown, Goodbye Andokoi

Hello everyone! It's been a fun week and I hope everyone had a great Father's Day! Seems like yesterday was Mother's Day so that shows how fast time is going by! Anyways I love my papa who has taught me so much! Thanks for giving me a love for nature and all of God's creations! And thanks for your support in my soccer games, musicals, and especially my mission!

So today starts my last transfer or six weeks of my mission, which means there's gonna be a lot of lasts coming up here pretty soon such as last area, last comp, etc. However, I'm really excited for this last transfer because I have been called to train an new missionary! President Lewis is an inspired man because that's lowkey what I wanted even though I never told him hehe. I don't know who I'm training yet, since the missionaries arent coming in until Thursday. But it will most likely be and African who speaks French so I'm excited to leave my last imprints on the mission! I'll be in the zone of Yopougon Attié in the Kouté ward.

Sadly, this means that I will be leaving Andokoi and the Selmer Zone. I've been here for 4 months so basically everyone knows who I am especially the kids and it's been a good time. There's a lot of special and super prepared people here and I'm excited to see when they get baptized! I'm also leaving the Zone and all the missionaries have been a blast to work with. I'm grateful for my companion, Elder Owuor, who was so helpful in me getting used to African life once again and finding so much joy in the work and in the people!

On another note, we had an awesome conference with Elder Vinson this week! He was the old area president for west africa so he knows what's up! Including french which was cool to listen to with his Australian accent! We had a mini meeting right before with the mission leaders and him and he was so loving and supportive of us as missionaries so it was such a treat! We also were able to sing a little musical number for him which by african standards was pretty dang good honestly. It was also cool to see so many missionaries, both from my mission and Abidjan East! 

Oh yeah I almost forgot, so the old president of Cote d'Ivoire just got out of prison where he's been for the last 10 years and came home last thursday. We were all pretty aware of it because everyone was talking about it since everyone loved him I guess. Even President Lewis let us know that we would probably be asked to go to our apartments during the day to avoid riots and such. It was pretty interesting to follow but overall it wasn't too bad. There was some looting and theft in other, more sketchy, parts of abidjan, but where we were was pretty calm. Mostly just big groups of people running around singing which is chill. We were told to go inside at lunchtime but after a couple hours they said it was fine to go back outside so we did and nothing bad happened!

Anyway I'm excited for this new transfer to start as a trainer! How fitting that I'm becoming a (mission) dad around Father's Day! Anyway I know that these next weeks will be going by super fast as I'm training and doubling into a new area so before I know it I'll be home...yako pour moi eh?

Elder Perkins

PHOTOS

1. Rose Kinneth is a wild child but super fun! She stole my glasses though...

2. Got those (totally real)Gucci flip flops so what else do I really need from Africa?

3. Comp Selfie in a green part of our area!

4-7 Pics from conference with my fellow APM missioanries, my mts where we'll all be on the same plane going home, temple pic and choir pic!

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Pretty Fingers

Good morning brothers and sisters. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to write this email to you on this beautiful monday morning. For those who dont know me, I'm Elder Perkins and this is my weekly email.

I hope everyone had a great week! Things have been pretty nice over here. Mostly because it's been raining a lot more so it's been a lot cooler! Yay! It's honestly still pretty hot and humid but all the Ivorians think its freezing and are wearing hoodies and sweaters...if only they knew! 

Speaking of Ivorians, I dont know if they are just way too nice for their own good, very observant, or just plain creepy because it's happened multiple times where I've been complimented on my fingers...so maybe I should go into like hand modeling for men or something.

We had zone conference this week! It's super hype to see a wonderful group of missionaries ready to learn! My comp and I were in charge of getting food for our zone so we got tchep(basically just chicken with special rice and cooked vegetables) with fruit and soda and we dined like kings! We also learned a lot about consecration and Sister Lewis challenged us to find ways of how we can give EVERYTHING to the Lord!

Sunday we had ward conference for Andokoi and it was pretty neat because there was a lot more people there than usual! Most of them we stake leaders but a lot more members came nonetheless and a lot of amis were able to come, some for the first time! So it was pretty great! 

It was also pretty funny as we were going back out to sector after church with a member to visit her home. So a soccer player for the Ivorian nation team who is actually from Andokoi decided to come to town to play at the big dirt field in our area, which is also right next to the members house. So we tried walking by but the field was completely filled with people, including soldiers with AKs and tear gas so we were like NOPE and had to take the long way around. Pretty cool though!

Oh yeah funny thought I had yesterday. We watched the weekly missionary devotional(which are always phenomenal by the way) with Elder and Sister Christofferson. Sister Christofferson started and gave a really cool talk about how we need to unpack our bags and our hearts to fully settle into mission life and gave awesome examples of the saints in Kirtland, Ammon, and of course us missionaries! I really loved it but afterwards I had the thought "next time I unpack my bags, I'll be home lol" so that gave me a good laugh haha. I felt like I just got here honestly so it feels weird that I'm prepping to go home already. My fam got my flight plans last week so I'll be home Tuesday night, August 3rd! Crazy!

Sorry if this one turned a little long and I've been getting a little lazy with pictures so there's not even a temptation of at least scrolling through my email briefly just to look at my pictures haha but I wish everyone the best and to never forget that God loves you!

On est ensemble

Elder Perkins

Photos

We went by a part in our sector that we've honestly never been to before since it's huge and it was actually super pretty with lots of green and trees! So we decided to take some picture but none of them really turned out well but here they are nonetheless!