Well in
two days I will be on a plane for home. It's weird it's all over. There's been
a ton of anxiety the past few days. Very similar to what it was like before I
left. It's rare when I get to sleep before midnight. This is a very hard time
period for me right now since I'm excited to go, but sad to leave. Should be
interesting.
Anyways
at least we had a great week.
Monday we spent most of our time at the
church playing basketball and other stuff. In the evening we went over to a
recent convert's home for dinner and enjoyed teaching their sister who used to
live in Norfolk,
VA. Not much else happened after that.
Tuesday we had a history lesson on Joseph
Smith with Joe. He really reasoned with a lot of the things about Joseph's life
and was touched by a lot of events. He then took us out to Olive Garden for
lunch as kind of a
goodbye gift. This was kind of the tone for the week. After that we ended up
dropping a few investigators such as an Arabic guy who isn't progressing in any
direction. We also saw Zoe that day and went over
the interview questions one more time. Not only did she know them, she
expounded a lot on them too. It was really cool.
Wednesday morning was my departing interview
with President Andersen. It was kind of a sad situation but he was really
awesome. Among the things he told me was "On behalf of the Lord I can
promise that He is pleased with your mission and is grateful for your help in
His work." It was a really humbling meeting. He was sad to see me leave
but excited for my future.
The last district photo
(from left to right:
Hermana Hill, Elder Peery, Sister Crossley,
Hermana Hooker, Sister
Woods, and Elder Hinds)
It was
also the final district meeting for Sister Woods and me. So after the
trainings, our companions gave us eulogies and we took funeral photos.
Elder Peery's
funeral
It was
very bittersweet but it was really cool. After that we had a meeting with a
recent convert, which was fun talking about the Pearl of Great Price.
In the
evening we had our last correlation meeting with our ward mission leader, which
was equally sad. After the meeting Elder Hinds went to interview someone the
sisters were teaching for baptism, so I played Pakistani (basically dodgeball
where you have to get everyone out without getting out yourself) with a bunch
of youth.
Thursday we went and tried a bunch of people
after shipping my bike home. That was the last package needed for home.
Eventually we went over to Zoe's again and found out she has a new addition to
the family! A
cute 7-month year old puppy named Sheba. She's part lab and is wayyy chill--like
didn't even bark at all when we showed up. Very obedient too. But yeah later on
the zone leaders came and interviewed Zoe and she passed with flying colors.
Friday we went over to Zoe's again for
lunch before heading to the church for another lesson with the recent convert.
She was going to the temple that night for baptisms and she had a few
questions. When she went
that night she had a great experience, and we were really happy for her. After
that we practiced this musical number with the sisters for their baptism, which
was a few hours after ours. It was originally going to be Go Tell it on a
Mountain, but there just wasn't a reverent way to play it on piano that I knew,
so we went with Come Thou Fount, and it worked a lot better. While we were
tracting, I got nipped by another dog. Thankfully this dog was about the size
of a half-gallon of milk, and since it was a house dog, I wasn't too worried.
I told
Zoe the next day that any opposition to her baptism was just being thrown on me
instead of her, which I said was just fine. We also got a call from President
while tracting that Elder Hinds will be training next transfer, which will be
good for him.
The cake the
Hermanas made for me
In the
evening we went to a not-so-surprise party for me. The Hermanas made me a cake,
which was so awesome. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to the Hispanic portion
of the Ward.
The Spanish goodbye
party
Saturday was really special. Lots of people
showed up to Zoe's baptism, and it was just a really special occasion. I was
way nervous and I ended up having to redo the baptism twice before getting it
right on the third attempt. On top of that I forgot to pack another white shirt, so I was still
wet when I changed. But aside from that it was a really special experience. My
favorite part was after the baptism, she was invited to bear her testimony. She
panicked and asked me to go up with her. I bore my testimony first and then she
did. There were a lot of tears in the audience as she bore a beautiful
testimony. Her mom of course was crying. It was great.
After
that we went to the hospital to give a blessing to a member who had just had
her baby the day before. The baby's name was Elam, which is from the Book of
Mormon and I guess it means "eternal". Pretty cool experience.
After
that we went to the sisters’ baptism, played the musical number, and then went
to Cracker Barrel for lunch. In the evening we were invited to the church for a
wedding reception. What was really cool was some people from Thompson's Station
showed up as well as some members from Smith Springs (my first area—and the
ward where my parents lived when I was born). Most particularly awesome was
Sis. Danielle Clark Hardisty showed up, so I got to say goodbye to her. She has known me since I was a baby and was
my very first babysitter when she was just a teenager growing up in the ward
where my parents lived at the time. Her
mom, Estella Clark, was my mom’s visiting teacher and very good friend. It was an awesome day.
Sunday was my last ward council and last
sacrament meeting in the Spring Hill Ward. They had me on the program to speak, so I sat up there with Bro. Kraus, the high councilor from TSTAT (Thompson's
Station Ward), who was visiting our ward. The wife of the WML (Ward Mission Leader) from
TSTAT was also there, since she is the stake Primary president. I bore my
testimony and I could see a lot of smiles. It was sad to leave the Ward. What
was cool was a brand new investigator walked into church asking to learn more
while I spoke. We talked with her during gospel principles and set up a return appointment
for after I go home.
After
that we went home where I began packing. I finished after we had dinner at a
member's home where they had invited their non-member neighbor to come over to
meet us. Cool!
My
mission has meant a lot to me and to a lot of other people. There have been a
lot of hard times, but I can definitely say I did my best to serve and am
confident with my standing. I look forward to the future and am excited to come
home. On to new adventures!
See you
in two days,
Elder Peery
Saying goodbye to
the bishop's kids
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