Week 101 in the Field!!! Birthday, Fishing, and Cinco de Mayo

 Me and Steed

So on Monday we went fishing near this dam in Columbia, TN. I took some pretty good photos and Elder Hinds struck out on fishing. I think that was the first day I was with him that he didn't catch anything.

James K. Polk home from the front

Anyways after that we went downtown to visit the James K. Polk home, which is basically one of the more famous things in the city. It's like the equivalent to Andrew Jackson's Heritage, except it was the home of Polk's parents and his childhood. It's the only standing home of President Polk. For those of you, like me, who don't really know a whole lot about President Polk, here's some interesting facts:

He ran for President in 1844 and served from 1845-1849 after serving as a lawyer and a congressman, I believe. He only served one term and died less than a year out of office in his 50's He was President during the war with Mexico and was present during the annexation of Texas as well as seeing the other states that came with that acquisition.  He is one of three US presidents from Tennessee (Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson are the other two), however he was born in North Carolina.

Polk home from the back

But yeah, we toured the house and had a pretty good experience. There wasn't too much there, but the museum was really fascinating. After the tour we went up to TSTAT (Thompson’s Station Ward) and hung out with the elders there just playing basketball.

Tuesday was my birthday and in the morning we got a call to help out this family move some pretty heavy stuff from their shed to the house and from a Penske truck to the shed. It was exhausting. After that we got a call from Elder Steed, my old companion in Eldorado, Illinois, who had finished his mission in October. He had come back to visit the mission this week so he took us out for blizzards at DQ. It was weird seeing him not as a missionary anymore. But cool none-theless. After that we had lunch at Olive Garden thanks to a gift card, and then we went down for a lesson with Zoey, which went well. After that we went over to the Maury County Park where a good chunk of the ward were there and threw me a surprise birthday party. It was a lot of fun and I appreciated everyone who did that for me.

Birthday party!

Wednesday we did not have district meeting because Hermana Hooker was sick, so we instead went out contacting people. We didn't have a whole lot of success but we did see a recent convert and later on we contacted some old investigators. We did go out to eat with the Zone Leaders again, which was fun.

Thursday we had district meeting since Hermana Hooker was better, and I trained on dropping and deleting investigators. Basically cleaning up the area book so that missionaries know who they need to go see, and who is on the back burner. We also had a mini party since it was Sister Crossley's birthday that day. So we celebrated hers and my birthdays. After that we went over to Zoey's again, and this was pretty cool. We had asked her on Tuesday to pray about who she wanted to baptize her out of the ward, and she ended up picking me. It'll be the first time I ever baptize someone which will be cool. I'm excited for it.

Friday we did some planning as well as some other things. We tried a few people and set up some appointments and then got a ride to Hampshire, TN where the bishop lives and we had dinner there. It's funny cause everyone is talking about and asking if I'm excited to go home. I wouldn't say excited, I would say ready. I feel ready to go home. I've done a lot on my mission and I'm excited for the last bit of it.

Saturday we had a Cinco de Mayo party at the park, which was a lot of fun. We had a lot of people come out to it. They had a giant slip and slide which was really tempting, and a lot of good barbecue. After the party we went to go help out a member with his yard. He later brought over one of his Mennonite friends who was cool to talk to.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, so after church we got to Skype home. We had technical difficulties at the first house so then we just went to our place to Skype. It was kinda weird in my opinion, since I see most of my family in roughly 16 days so most of the time was spent talking about other things than the mission like what plans are for home. I'm looking forward to it. After that we went and gave a Hispanic lady a blessing. She didn't speak any English and the Hermanas kinda bailed on us, so it was interesting. I used whatever Spanish I knew and it was fun. We also found out that Zoey went to Columbia Ward's meetings, which are an hour after ours are so she is well on her way to getting baptized on May 21st.

Fishing by the dam in Columbia

Today we are up in Franklin, TN and I'm currently writing this while they are fishing again. I've kind of gotten burned out of fishing. It's okay every now and then, but like every week is getting ridiculous haha. 

Anyways, hope y'all are doing well and thank you again so much for all the birthday wishes.  It has meant so much to me.

Have a good week!

Elder Peery

Week 100 in the Field: Final Zone Conference, a Baptism, and Loveless Cafe

Week 100 in the Field -- May 2, 2016

 Bearing my final testimony to the mission at zone conference

So Monday we went up to TSTAT (Thompson’s Station Ward) and we went with the elders there and a TS2 (Thompson’s Station 2^nd Ward) member to the Loveless Cafe. It was the exact same member who took me, Elder Bedwell, and Elder Powell there back in September. It was a really great meal. After that we went up to Franklin and got to hang around a bunch of other missionaries.

At the Loveless Cafe with Elder Meldrum, Elder McClain, Elder

Hinds, Elder Crawford, Elder Peery, and the TS2 member's son.

Playing corn hole at the Loveless Cafe

We played a lot of basketball, which was pretty fun. After that I went on exchange with Elder McClain in my area. It's probably the last time I will go on an exchange and take over the area. After dinner at a recent convert's home, we went over to that one part member family's home. Only the daughter Zoey was there, so we taught her on the porch. We ended up setting a baptismal date for May 21st with her! It will be my last Saturday in the mission, which will be awesome. She's excited to be baptized.

Tuesday we went over to see Joe and focused on the plan of salvation. He grasped the idea of the Atonement really well but didn't quite understand pre-earth life and post-earth life. He's going out of town, so we won't see him for a week or so. After that, we went tracting and were able to find a new investigator. In the evening we had dinner at a member's home whose cat just had kittens a month ago, so it was pretty adorable.

Kittens!

Wednesday we met back up in Nolensville, TN where we were having Zone Conference. I was asked to play piano for it. It was my last meeting with more than 6 missionaries. The entire stakes of Nashville and Franklin missionaries met in the meeting and we had trainings from President and Sister Andersen. At the end, the missionaries departing in the next 3 months gave their parting advice. They included me, Sister Woods, Elder Brown (all 3 go home this month), Elder Hansen (my old companion), Elder Daines, Elder Jensen, Elder Toomer, and then President and Sister Andersen since they leave this July.

I don't remember exactly what I said, although it was recorded by Elder Hinds, but I do remember I spoke about developing your talents, the love President and Sister Andersen have for all of us, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. After everyone was done, I played the final hymn which was “Called To Serve,” and that was pretty crazy. About a week prior I couldn't play it, so when they told me on Monday that I'd be playing, I practiced like crazy. I was able to get it down though, so that was great.

Thursday we were in Spring Hill because Elder Hinds needed to see an orthodontist to get his retainer fixed. But after that we went tracting in our area and found two new people. We also got to see a recent convert who brought her son who's in his 30's I assume. He had some questions about stuff in Church history, which I have studied extensively these past two years, so it was cool seeing him understand things better. He also said he'd be baptized if he found this church was true!

Friday morning we headed over to the church where we got to witness an English/Spanish wedding! Bishop Pennington performed the marriage and a member translated it into Spanish. It was really cool cause it was the first wedding I got to see on my mission! And probably the last!

English/Spanish wedding!

But anyways after the wedding, we finalized the baptism plans for that returning member family. Their daughter would be baptized on Sunday.

Saturday was a lot of prepping things to get shipped. Since I have about three weeks left, part of that process is shipping old stuff home. And it's a process. Took us most of the day. Also we went biking about 8 miles which was fun. For the most part it was decently flat, so that was great. We tried a few people but struck out mostly.

On Sunday, Zoey came to church with her mom and so that was great! It was her first experience at church and a lot of people welcomed her! I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting thanks to the nudging of three different families. But it was a great experience. Later on we taught Zoey in Gospel Principles about tithing as well as the commandments. After church in the evening was the baptism of an 8-year-old girl. It was so cool to see how happy this little girl was. We ended up singing a musical number with the Hermanas which was fun too. After that we ended the night.

8 year old baptism!

Thank you to all the people who have wished me, or will wish me a happy birthday for tomorrow! It's crazy that I'm almost 22. I still look like I'm 16 but it's whatever haha. I'm looking forward to these final three weeks as well as Mother's Day this Sunday. It'll be the last time I see my family till I see them two weeks from the following Wednesday on May 25th. Thanks so much again! 

See you in three,

Elder Peery

Week 99 in the Field: Puppies, Goats, and Olive Trees

Puppy!

So on Monday we went up to Thompson's Station, where we mostly played basketball and baseball. Nothing going on too much, but after that I went on exchanges with Elder Daines, the Franklin Zone Leader in Franklin, TN and we went over to this one member's home where they fed us pork tenderloin and other good stuff. It was awesome. We then played a church version of Scattergories, which I came in third. We then had a super, super spiritual lesson with them and we were teaching the restoration. Even though they were strong active members, it was still really spiritual and almost brought me to tears. We also taught a less-active family where the husband worked for CMT (Country Music Television) and he had worked with a lot of the stars you hear about like Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

Tuesday we were kind of all over the place. We started out by having lunch at a seventy's home. He's a lot older now and has some dementia, but he remembers being ordained by Mark E. Peterson and supervised missionary work on stake levels back in the 80's. He was a convert, too, and gave us his conversion story which is like 5 pages long. That was a really cool visit. We saw and taught a few other people too and did some service for another elderly guy.

Wednesday we met back up and I introduced the finding tournament in district meeting. Both sets of sisters are down for it and will be working hard to beat everyone. After district meeting we went to go help out Joe move some things to his shop in Columbia. I think he's really starting to like us which is great! After that we had a lesson with this mom of two and these kids were absolutely crazy. And the mom was pretty good with discipline, but they just didn't care. The mom is still kind of a fence sitter, so we are working with her on figuring out what she wants to do. She hasn't read any of the assignments we've given her, so I literally just gave her two verses on happiness (Alma 27:17-18) for her to think about.

The good news is that I found out that day that I got accepted for that job I was applying for in Herndon, so I should be working within a few weeks of being home!  They will send me an official offer letter soon.

Thursday we went and helped Joe again, but this time we spent some time doing some mulching, which was fun. While I'm writing this, I forgot to mention that last Saturday while we were doing service, I got to ride a riding lawnmower. I think it was my first time driving one since I usually used a push mower. I think I now officially qualify to be a true Southerner. But yeah, after that we went and saw a recent convert and explained baptisms for the dead more. She can't wait to go to the temple! It's so exciting. After that we went tracting, and a little puppy started following us so we took her back to where she came from. But it was still cute.

Friday we did a lot of planning and tracting. There wasn't too much going on that day that I can remember, however, in the evening we went out to eat at Pucketts, thanks to a member. Probably had one of the best burgers and fries I've ever had there. While there we got a text to go help out a returning member with her two year old who was in the hospital with breathing problems. We gave her a blessing and the next day she felt better and was able to return home. We should be seeing them on Monday or Tuesday night.

Goat farm fun

Saturday was kind of an adventure. We got picked up to do some service at this one family's home. They lived way out in the boonies and had their own goat farm which was cool. The goats were awesome and super fun to mess with. It also turned out it was one of their kid's birthday that day, and so we were able to celebrate with them. They were massive baseball fans, and it turns out their favorite teams were the Cubs, Nationals, and Dodgers which are all my favorites too (the other team I like is the Red Sox). The kid got a Bryce Harper jersey, which was really neat.

Members' 12th birthday party!

Sunday we went off to church and attended Gospel Doctrine, since no one stuck around for Gospel Principles. It was a really good lesson on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. I really enjoyed the teacher and the lesson especially. The allegory is basically about the scattering and gathering of the house of Israel using an olive vineyard. The Lord of the vineyard has a tree with good roots that he uses to plant other trees in different parts of the vineyard, he then checks on the fruit of each tree periodically and judges whether the fruit is good or bad. If the fruit is good, he collects it and preserves it, or uses it to help trees that are bad. If they are bad, he works with them by grafting the good or other things.

Eventually, all the fruit becomes bad and so the Lord seeks to reclaim it by calling servants to assist him in restoring the vineyard. My favorite part of the story is when the servant asks the Lord of the vineyard in verse 21 basically saying "Why did you plant in this spot of ground? For its the poorest spot in all the vineyard!"

And the Lord replies to him saying "Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." So no matter what the Lord asks us to do, He knows what He's doing and we shouldn't try to judge or convince Him otherwise. For He can see things we are unable to see because of our finite minds that cannot begin to comprehend what He can see. When we allow our will to become in line with His, we begin to develop an eye single to the glory of God, which allows us to look at things through His eyes, in a minuscule way. Cool stuff.

Here is a link to Jacob Chapter 5 in the Book of Mormon, so you can read it, too:

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/jacob/5?lang=eng

Here is a link to a video of seminary students tending an Old Testament olive vineyard:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-08-1680-the-olive-tree?lang=eng

Here is a link to information on the allegory:

https://www.lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-student-study-guide/jacob-5-6?lang=eng

After church we had a good lunch at a member’s home and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to her non-member husband. He doesn't seem too interested at this point, but we will see what happens. We then did some studies and then later had dinner with the family who's daughter is getting baptized this Sunday. She has a hard time retaining things but hopefully she'll be fine.

Incidentally, some of you may remember Hermana James who was in my district for three months in McMinnville. Anyways, she had to go home a week ago because she may have lymphoma in her windpipe and lungs area. President Andersen asked us as a mission to fast and pray for her, so I'm forwarding this to y'all to please pray for Hermana James. She's a good friend of mine, and I really hope she can recover quickly and come back out soon. Thanks a lot.

It's so weird next week I turn 22, and then three weeks from then I go home. It's all coming so fast. I'm excited to see what'll happen these next few weeks. I'm trying my best to stay focused, but I'm extremely excited to begin the next phase of my life.

See you in four,

Elder Peery

Elder Peery’s mom here!  If you would like to send Elder Peery greetings for his birthday 

on May 3rd, he WOULD love to hear from you!!!  Here is his contact information:

Elder Andrew Peery

Tennessee Nashville Mission

1646 Sunset Road

Brentwood, TN 37027

Email: Andrew.peery@myldsmail.net

Blog:  Elderpeery.blogspot.com