Mission Address

Texas Lubbock Mission
Sentry III Plaza
5214 68th Street, Suite 202
Lubbock, TX 79424-1523

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Hey guys, you'll never believe this! but I'm still here in Dumas (that's not the part to not believe) and I'm training!! a greenie!! straight from the MTC!! his name is Elder Justensen and he's from Layton Utah!!! He's so awesome! We're having a lot of fun here! And then guess what?! I'm a District Leader!! what?!?!?!?!? yeah it's pretty crazy! In the last week I've been on three conference calls, and another one is coming up tomorrow! and I get to go to Lubbock for leadership training on Tuesday the 15th! it's so crazy being a leader, but i know i can do it (easy) and the Lord will help me out a ton!

Elder Rane is in Ruidoso right now, and he's back-up training over there. It was pretty sad leaving him, but it's all good, we promised each other we would stay in touch, and we wrote in each others journals like the night before he left. He's an awesome kid. but so is Elder Justensen, I took him all over the place yesterday! we worked hard! I'm going to show him (by example) what it takes to be a good missionary and how to work hard - all day every day! his Spanish is pretty good too! i also made a promise to myself, to the Lord, and to the zone leaders that I'm going to keep in way good contact with my district, and try to call all of them once a day just to tell them i love them. that's something that really stuck out to me when Elder Ward and Willie were my district leaders in Roswell. I really look forward to teaching all these missionaries how to improve in their areas.

Golfing was awesome with Albert!!!! He had another set of clubs (yep, mayflower ones!) and all Elder Rane had was his left handed golf club; he had to chip and putt right handed. I was so fun you guys!! I got a birdie!!! two of them! on the last hole Albert stuck one close (like 20 feet) and thought he was all pro, so of course I had to put it inside of his right? I mean, this shot was going down in history! so i did my (awesome) routine and put the ball two feet from the cup!!! boom! Take that one Kate!!! hahaha!!

Yeah, I got the trainer call and the district leader call last Friday. that was a crazy phone call from president, "Elder Perkins, I'm calling you to be a trainer" and I'm like, " whoa!" and then he's like, "and a District Leader" and I'm like, "whoa!" and he's like, "Do you accept these two callings?" and I'm like, "whoa! yeah, I do!" then he told me how much confidence he has in me, and told me he's not calling me to do this because it's "my turn" or anything. He expressed to me how much he trusts me, and how excited he is to be working very close to me. He told me that being a trainer and a district leader are the two most important callings a missionary can have, because they affect so many other missionaries around us. In the conference call last night he told all us District Leaders that we're the ones "in the trenches" and everyone else is "above dry ground". What he meant by this, is that everyone is looking up to us to see how our area is doing, to get ideas on how to improve. I've always strived to be an obedient missionary (if I wasn't you guys would have received a phone call from President!) , but now there is absolutely no excuse to break any rules. I hope this makes sense, I've never broken rules before, and now it's so much more important that i don't, you know?

Sweet. so, I don't know if I have any other sweet stories to tell you guys. Elder Rane told me some really nice things (in my journal) before he left. He told me that even though I'm the same person (pretty crazy but super awesome with a hilarious sense of humor!) that he's seen me grow a lot. He said he could notice a difference in my Spanish, that I so confident, that I could contact people in an unawkward way, (sometimes contacting is kinda weird!) and that missionary work in general is a lot of fun around me and things are a lot more effective. Since I've been on my mission, I've really learned how to love everyone around me, and to help then with whatever they need. I've only been companions with elder Justensen since Tuesday night, but i already love him a ton. He's a little shy right now, but that will change very soon with me!! hahaha! The members already love him too, we're going to work really hard and have a lot of fun together!

Don't worry dad, one day I probably will serve in Odessa or Midland. I actually really want to serve there; but we all know it's not what I want, but where the Lord needs me to be. How's your golf game going? I could actually surprisingly still hit the ball pretty well. I was planning on my fade to come into play, but the ball just stayed really straight! Kinda weird but super awesome! We had A TON of fun!!!!! It felt like I was where I needed to be, on a golf course!!!!

How was the temple? I need to go again. I haven't been since I went in Roswell with Elder Kenyon in June!!!! I wonder if I'll get to go when I'm in Lubbock . . . I'll ask about that one. Elder Rose and I are going on exchanges with each other maybe as soon as next week! That will be a lot of fun serving with him in my area!

Well, once again, my time has almost expired on the computer, so I must stop for now. But I hope all of you know that I love you dearly, more than words could ever explain. I now need your prayers more than ever now that i have these added responsibilities; but I'm grateful for the chance I've been given to prove my faithfulness and diligence to the Lord and to others.

I hope you guys have a great week, and I really look forward to hearing from you next week!
Love, Elder Zachary Levi Perkins