My Favorite Books Tier List

So I've decided to do my favorite lists a little bit different this time around. I'm putting everything into tier lists. I rather enjoy tier lists.

Of course, these tier lists will not include every book I've ever read or every game I've ever played.

For instance, in this tier list many many books I have read I removed since I haven't read them in years and years.

As I continue to do things (read books, play games etc.), I will continue to revamp my lists as normal (still pondering an efficient way to have the updated list easily accessible without creating a whole additional post to show a small update on a tier list. But I've got some ideas stirring).

Couple notes about the books below:

Hero of Ages unsurprisingly is still my favorite book of all time.

Skyward, which I reread recently, thoroughly impressed me. It is such a clean, beautiful book. I think I prefer it to the first book in the Mistborn series, which is definitely notable (we'll see if that changes after my reread of the Mistborn books in preparation for The Lost Metal next year). It's kind of a shame that I don't prefer the sequels to Skyward nearly as much. 

Which is similar to how I absolutely love Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow but didn't really enjoy the next two books in the Bean series all that much. I still need to read book 4 in said series (leaving on my mission sooner than expected prevented me from finishing the series outright, so now I need to do some back tracking). Ender's quartet is also on my long list of books to read.

Next up on my reading list, I'm going to go through Oathbringer (which I've already read once) to prepare myself for Rhythm of War.

Cool new list thingy to the left, bytheway. Includes recent reads amongst other things. What I put on there exactly will probably expand and wane throughout time.

So It Begins...

Welp, I'm home. Kind of wild, eh?

I spent the last 2 years serving the Lord in the Utah Salt Lake City mission. What a blessing it has been.

Many posts, I'm sure, will still involve my faith. It is the most important thing to me, after all. I'm sure I'll get to share more about various experiences I've had on my mission. Lessons I've learned, people I know I was supposed to meet, tender mercies, not mere coincidences amongst others in the plethora of things you can draw from in a mission.

But, of course, many posts will now involve many many many other things. I have many projects in mind :)

My Adventures at Dairy Queen; A Love, Share, and Invite Experience

This is my talk I gave on my 21st Birthday, October 10th, 2021 in the Parley's YSA Ward in the Bonneville YSA Stake.

What I said, of course, wasn't word for word what is written. I write a talk, read it over many times, and then when I'm giving a talk, I use my written talk as reminders of where to go next/what I wanted to say etc.

My use of brackets either indicacts more improvised portions of my talk, such as "[bear testimony here]" or notes for purposes of clarifying sections to readers, such as "[I don't remember how I transitioned to the next subject, but I did]".

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[I introduced myself. I don't feel the need to put that all in this post. But I talked about Fallon. Growing up next to a Dairy Farm and next to all my cousins. What my parents do for work and what I want to do.]

I wanted to talk today about the principles of Love, Share, and Invite in regards to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ while pulling from conference talks given just this past general conference, but also several that were given many years prior.

Love, Share, and Invite have been discussed many times recently, I feel, which may seem like a lot. But considering the fact that they’re the fundamental principles behind strengthening members and nonmembers alike, it kind of makes sense.

LOVE

The General Handbook has a fantastic section on Love, Share, and Invite. I'll be quoting pretty much the entire thing spread throughout my talk today.

It says about Love,

"We are all children of a Heavenly Father who loves His children perfectly. He offers everyone the opportunity to be filled with His love through Jesus Christ and His gospel.

One way we show our love for God is by loving and serving His children. We strive to love and serve as Jesus Christ did. This love inspires us to reach out to people of all religions, races, and cultures (General Handbook)."

[Something about how important love is. How with it we truly are nothing. It needs to be our motive. Transition into scripture]

1 Corinthians 13:2-3

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing

[Something about how without love, it really profiteth us nothing. Love needs to be our motive. If love is not our motive, we need to pause.]

[Something about how an awesome example of love was shown is Sister Eubank's talk]

"Some of the Relief Society sisters noticed that many Afghan women were using their husbands’ shirts to cover their heads because their traditional head coverings had been ripped off in the frenzy at the Kabul airport. In an act of friendship that crossed any religious or cultural boundaries, the sisters of the Ramstein First Ward gathered to sew traditional Muslim clothing for Afghan women. Sister Bethani Halls said, 'We heard that women were in need of prayer garments, and we are sewing so that they can be [comfortable] for prayer.'" (Sister Eubank, October 2021)

Okay, now for a segment I call:

My Adventures at Dairy Queen 

Part 1:

I worked at Dairy Queen for a year before coming out on my mission. I'll be sharing parts of my experiences there strung throughout this talk and the different parts of Love, Share, and Invite.

Honestly, I'm pretty proud of myself for sharing the gospel at Dairy Queen before my mission. For not having such a focus on the principles of Love, Share, and Invite and having read only some of Preach My Gospel, I had some really cool missionary experiences during my time there.

Dealing with the principle of Love, I loved my coworkers. 

At Dairy Queen, you had your night shift, which was always a good time because you're just with a bunch of other teenagers. When you just have a bunch of teenagers gathered together, some funny stuff goes down. 

And then you had your morning shift, which were the adults since all the teenagers were at school. This was fun because you could have more intelligent conversations, but not fun because the manager who was in charge of the music in the morning only played country music. That may sound like heaven for some of you, including my companion, but not so much for me.

They were honestly probably the best part about the job (but considering that it was fast food/customer service, I guess there isn't much competition). We got to know each other, and cared for each other. We took each other's shifts, and just had good times with one another.

More on Dairy Queen later.

SHARE

"Because we love God and His children, we naturally want to share the blessings He has given us and help gather Israel. We seek to help people feel the joy that we feel. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we hold up His light. We speak openly of the Savior and His influence in our lives. We share love, time, experiences, and Church programs to bless God’s children and help them draw closer to the Savior. We share these things in normal and natural ways as part of personal, online, and other interactions (General Handbook)."

Elder Uctdorf in April 2011 gives a perfect example of sharing in normal and natural ways.

"Years ago our family lived and worked among people who in almost every case were not of our faith. When they asked us how our weekend was, we tried to skip the usual topics—like sports events, movies, or the weather—and tried to share some religious experiences we had as a family over the weekend—for instance, what a youth speaker had said about the standards from For the Strength of Youth or how we were touched by the words of a young man who was leaving on his mission or how the gospel and the Church helped us as a family to overcome a specific challenge we had. We tried not to be preachy or overbearing. My wife, Harriet, was always the best at finding something inspirational, uplifting, or humorous to share. This often would lead to more in-depth discussions."

My Adventures at Dairy Queen

Part 2:

Back to Dairy Queen. Over the year that I worked there, it was really cool how a culture of talking about religious topics became a thing. Many of my coworkers were members who hadn't attended church in a while, and although they didn't practice, they had some belief.

Everyone knew that I was eventually going to quit in order to go on a mission for my church.

And there were a couple coworkers of mine who were simply just curious about what I believed and my standards.

And so I got to share what I believed many many times.

But what was important was to recognize those opportunities to do so. If not consciously thought about or an integral part of who we are, many of those chances could slip by.

A couple specific examples:

I remember one particular instance when one of my managers, who still has faith and was a devout member many years ago but had fallen out of habits, when she talked about the many mistakes she had made throughout the years, I bore testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. How it is for everyone and can heal anyone.

Another was when another coworker questioned why I'm leaving Dairy Queen, I would not only explain what I'm doing (that is, going on a mission), but also why I'm doing it.

Back to DQ in a sec.

INVITE

"The Savior invites all to receive His gospel and prepare for eternal life. As His disciples, we follow His example, inviting all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him”.

We pray for inspiration and guidance on how to invite others to:

• Come and see the blessings available through Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Church (see John 1:37–39, 45–46).

• Come and help us serve people in need.

• Come and belong to the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

When our invitations are based on a person’s needs and interests, he or she is more likely to accept those invitations. Often, inviting simply means including our family, friends, and neighbors in what we are already doing. For example, we can invite them to:

---I think this is a really important part right here. I think too often we think that the only invitation we can leave with people is to meet with the missionaries. And if they're not ready to meet with the missionaries, they're simply not ready. I think the following suggestions really highlight the fact that there's a lot more in-between that we can do to help people be ready to meet with missionaries.---

• Join us in our homes for activities.

• Join us for worship and gospel learning.

• Attend special events, such as a baby blessing or baptism.

• Participate in ward and community activities or service, including projects organized through JustServe (where available).

• Participate in Church programs and activities. These could include Primary activities, youth activities, family history, self-reliance courses, BYU–Pathway Worldwide, and literacy and English courses.

---And of course---

• Meet the full-time missionaries and hear their message."

(General Handbook)

Final part of my adventures at Dairy Queen:

I think often times we overthink things. If the feeling is right, if the relationship is good, perhaps most importantly if love is the motive, I think we can invite all over the place.

I remember often times at Dairy Queen when my coworkers that hadn't been to church in a while and I talked about church, I would chuck in a simple, "You should come. I would love to see you there."

It was a very soft invitation. It was more a suggestion than anything. But I think it's important.

And then, when the timing was right, I invited them more formally. I was having my farewell talk at church. I invited several of my coworkers. And three came :)

[Bear testimony

Include elements such as:

Christ is our Savior

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are more than willing to give you missionary opportunities and help you know what to do with missionary opportunities. Please ask.]

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Additional quotes to add in if the talk runs short for some reason]

Elder Nash, October 2021:

Our Latter-day Saints in Liberia helped 507 friends enter the waters of baptism during the 10 months there were no full-time missionaries serving in their country. When one of our wonderful stake presidents there heard that the full-time missionaries may be returning, he remarked, “Oh good, now they can help us with our work.”

He is correct: the gathering of Israel—the greatest cause on this earth—is our covenant responsibility. And this is our time!

Elder Bednar April 2008:

We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!

Christ's Promise

Heyo! This is my talk that I gave on July 25th in two wards (the Liberty and the Fourth Wards that are near downtown Salt Lake).

Of course, both times I altered it; I either cut out a paragraph or two and/or added in some additional thoughts that came to mind, but what follows covers the basic principles and thoughts I shared.

My use of brackets either indicacts more improvised portions of my talk, such as "[bear testimony here]" or notes for purposes of clarifying sections to readers, such as "[I don't remember how I transitioned to the next subject, but I did]".

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Hello!

I talked or, at least, bore my testimony in this ward not too long ago, so I hope many of you still remember my face.

But regardless, similar brief introduction. My name is Elder Perazzo. I come from the town Fallon, Nevada which is about an hour east of Reno, Nevada.

I grew up adjacent to a diary farm run by my uncles. And I tried to remember details about what I said last time, so I apologize if this is all repeat, but: My uncles ran it, and I just grew up next to it. So the most I did was help cows back in their pins when they got out. Regardless we got infinite raw milk, so it was pretty awesome and I wouldn't have had it any other way :)

I’m the youngest of five with a Sister right above me and three brothers above her. Living next to the dairy, all my neighbors are my family. Cousins here, here, here, with grandma and grandpa there and great aunt/uncle there.

My family is the best and my favorite thing on this on the planet :)

Today, I really wanted to talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Of course, there is probably an infinite amount of talks you could write on this one subject.

I pray that the Holy Ghost will direct me as I write and speak about these precious truths. I also pray that the Holy Ghost will help you hear what you need to, especially if what you need to hear is different than the words I say.

“The Savior’s Atonement included His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His suffering and death on the cross, and ended with His resurrection.” (Preach My Gospel; Chapter 3 Lesson 2)

It is because of these events that everything in life that we do is made possible. Or, at least in my opinion, purposeful.

Without the Atonement of Jesus Christ, where are we?

Well, I can say that if Jesus Christ had not volunteered himself to be a sacrifice for us, we would not have chosen to come to this earth.

Before this life, we were together in a grand council. We were shown a plan. In order to become more like God, we would have to come to earth. 

We would suffer all manner of afflicitons. We would experience, in my opinion, what would be the most difficult time during our entire eternal existence. 

We knew we had to go through these things to become more like God.

Taking a slight deteor on this subject of why these difficult things are necessary, I wanted to read a quote from Elder Holland, who is quoting Neal A. Maxwell. This is perhaps my favorite quote written on the subject. He said,

"It simply will not work 'to glide naively through life,' saying as we sip another glass of lemonade, 'Lord, give me all thy choicest virtues, but be certain not to give me grief, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor opposition. Please do not let anyone dislike me or betray me, and above all, do not ever let me feel forsaken by Thee or those I love." ----The next sentence is my favorite sentence---- "In fact, Lord, be careful to keep me from all the experiences that made Thee divine. And then, when the rough sledding by everyone else is over, please let me come and dwell with Thee, where I can boast about how similar our strengths and our characters are as I float along on my cloud of comfortable Christianity.'"

Heavenly Father knew we had to experience trials and difficulties. But that doesn't mean we would be left alone. Quite the opposite. That is yet another reason he sent Jesus to atone for us.

Anyway, back to us in our premortal council:

On top of wanting help through our pain, there were two main problems we had to figure out how to overcome. 

[One of the times I gave the talk I chucked in something about the Fall of Adam and Eve here]

Our mortal bodies would die, and if we sinned even a single time, we would be separated forever from God. Not the most promising aspect.

And so, as foreordained, Jesus volunteered himself to be the mediator. “The one that would make the atoning sacrifice that makes it possible for us to overcome the effects of the Fall.” (Slightly altered quote from Preach My Gospel Chapter 3 Lesson 2)

And so we accepted the plan. Having faith that Jesus would do what he promised to us that he would do.

My MTC teacher, who helped me a lot during my MTC experience, explained it this way.

“We chose this plan because we trusted Jesus. He was our bigger brother. He was the one who always did the best on tests, always helped others. He was always the smartest, the brightest, the kindest, the best. We knew we could count on him.”

This reminds me of the lyrics found in the song, Gethsemane

"While His friends were asleep, He fought to keep

His promise made long ago."

He promised us he would do this for us. And we trusted him to do so.

I cherish the words in the song Gethsemane, and wanted to read the rest of them as well.

"Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still.

His steps were heavy and slow.

Love and a prayer took Him there

To the place only He could go.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad,

All the pain we would ever know.

While His friends were asleep, He fought to keep

His promise made long ago.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

The hardest thing that ever was done,

The greatest pain that ever was known,

The biggest battle that ever was won—

This was done by Jesus!

The fight was won by Jesus!

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He gave His gift to me in Gethsemane.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He gives His gift to me from Gethsemane."

It is my witness that Jesus is indeed the Christ. That he did the hardest thing that ever was done, and won the biggest battle that ever was won. I know that he is my Savior and Redeemer. [Continue to bear testimony of the Savior]

The other day in a big missionary meeting, our mission president gave a talk about the physical and emotional sufferings of Jesus Christ during parts of performing the Atonement.

I love what he said about the individuality of the Atonement. He said something to the effect of,

"He didn’t do it for us. He did it for you. and you. and you. and you. And every single individual in this world. He knows you and loves you perfectly."

[I forget exactly how I transitioned here]

Ether 12:27

I feel, too often, people when they read this scripture they focus on the weakness part. I’m weak; we’re all weak.

I much prefer focusing on the restored truth that Christ can make our weak things become strong. 

Because of Jesus Christ, we are able to change.

My mission president in his talk the other day expanded upon this idea as well.

There are many many many extreme trials we are to go through in this life. Many of them may feel unbearable, and we feel as though we cannot go through them.

And perhaps you can’t. But you can, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

It’s hard to go through the death of a loved one. And perhaps you can’t. But you can.

[Do the same idea with one or two other major trials we may face during this life]

I didn’t know exactly where to fit this into my talk, but I know I wanted it in here. It is perhaps my favorite line in the entirety of Preach My Gospel.

“All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

I bear my witness that that is true.

[Bear Testimony]

[I expanded on the following couple of sentences one of the times I talked]

People don't know about this. Will you please share it?

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Breakdown of "More Than Thin Air"

In this blogpost I talk about the poem "More Than Thin Air" that I wrote. You can find that poem here: http://whateveriwant7.blogspot.com/2021/06/more-than-thin-air.html

So I kind of just did my own thing for the poem; it isn't any offical poem format. Each line is 7 syllables with each duplet being its own rhyming pair. Except the 3rd and the 6th (the last duplet in each half (each half, as you can probably tell, is kind of its own time period. More on that later)) are very similar to one another.

I feel like it's easier to write poems about sad or confusing things than it is to write ones about happy things. Maybe that isn't true; after all, this is one of the first actual poems I've written and worked hard on, but that's what it feels like currently.

The line "Quandries to an open sky" popped into my head, and I really liked it, so I started to write a poem about prayer. But, as mentioned in the above paragraph, it seemed so much easier to write about sad things. Problem is, I freakin' love prayer. But I didn't always.

And so I had the idea to make half of the poem about how I felt about prayer in the past and the other half about my relationship with prayer now. That's were the basis of this poem spawned from.

"Rise no more than the ceiling" is in reference to a topic one of my favorite companions, Elder Townsend, and I talked about. The same discussions is also what the title "More Than Thin Air" came from.

Sometimes, when you prayer, it feels like your words are just hitting the ceiling and not going any further. It feels like it isn't even making it close to heaven or God.

Similar idea, sometimes it feels as though you are just speaking to thin air. Of course, the poems ending is the opposite of that feeling. Thus the title, "More Than Thin Air". I almost called it "Thick Air" just to be clever, but decided against that idea, haha.

I really really liked the line "Now those thoughts feel so foreign" as a transition line between the two periods of time. The problem I found, though, is it's kind of hard to rhyme with 'foreign'. I didn't like the idea of taking of the 'g' in an 'ing' word, so I tried many other different lines, and eventually shafted the "now those thoughts feel so foreign" line. I tried to use a word that would rhyme easier, but didn't like any of those, so I went back to the original.

'Alein' was a good word I found. But, of course, the idea was that prayer was not alein, so I reflected that in the line. I then didn't want to use the word 'prayer' again, so I searched for a one syllable replacement by searching in the bible dictionary/topical guide and such (pretty much the closest thing I have to a thesaures on my mission, haha). I found the word 'cry' from Alma 34 and I liked it.

The line "revelation I receive" actually come from my givethanks post I did about prayer on Facebook.

I want to say, that that first half of the poem is 100% true. A good chunk of the time, prayer felt very empty to me. Like the poem says, I still had faith that God was there, but it was hard to feel so in my prayer.

I remember when I got my Patriarchal Blessing, there's a line that references me knowing the power of prayer. I wasn't so sure about that part, haha. The patriarch asked me after giving me my blessing if anything in it surprised me. I said yes. I was thinking of that line.

But now those thoughts feel so foreign! I love prayer. And I know that line in my Patriarchal Blessing has come to fruition.

There is so much that could be written and perhaps will be written. I'll cut myself off there for today, though. I think my poem says what I want to say pretty darn well anyway, so you'll just have to read that again :)

Tribute to my Dad (as given in a talk in church)

I gave a talk in one of the wards that I serve in today. I talked about two things. Hope and my dad. I wanted to share some of the thoughts that I shared about my dad here.

What I had written down for my talk and what I spoke were slightly different. I edited it to be more accurate to what I spoke.

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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters! Happy Father's Day! *Introduce myself and my family a bit. Talk briefly about what each sibling is up to and talk about the Dairy Farm because people seem to enjoy hearing about it. Share that both my parents are teachers and that I want to be a teacher as well (specifically math)*

I wanted to pay a little tribute to my father in my talk, even though he is not here listening.

I wanted to highlight two of the things that I really appreciate about my dad.

1. My dad is the best example of Christ-like service I know. 

If he has 5 minutes in his schedule, he will gladly fit you in. [author's note: That is a quote from a givethanks post my mom did] He is always out ministering to individuals in need. I was just talking about this the other week to someone; if my dad wasn't home, he was either at work or serving someone. That's what he did. And serving others is part of who he is.

He is genuine and serves with no expectation of anything in return. He just wants to help.

A quick example, is he always picks up trash off the ground when he walks by. He is involved in and takes care of his community.

2. He always got invested into our interests growing up, and continues to do so. When I talk to him on Mondays, he often asks about the people I am teaching, and references things I talked about last week.

Before my mission, he would ask questions about the music artist I am listening to, or the games I am playing, or the books I am reading. Not for some ulterior motive of micromanaging me or sneakily trying to find me doing something I’m not supposed to. But instead because he genuinely cares about what I care about and wants to learn more about why I care about it so much.

He listens intently and allows me to talk freely about the things I'm passionate about.

My father is awesome.

[Author's note: this is where I branch off a little into talking about Father's in general. I really like the quote and such, though, so I thought I would include it in this blog post as well]

I love the quote by A. Theodore Tuttle in his talk entitled “The Role of Fathers” given in October 1973.

"It should have great meaning that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that could be given him, that God himself, he who is the highest of all, chose to be addressed simply as 'Father.'"

I know a good Father can make a big impact in a child’s life. I hope that we all have good Fathers. And if we don’t down here, I promise you we have a perfect father up there.

[Author's note: At this point in my talk, I then transition to talking about hope. I share a shortened and altered version of my "Hope is Sometimes Misunderstood" talk that I posted a while back]

More Than Thin Air

More Than Thin Air (6/2/21)

Quandaries to an open sky?

Yet no answers from on high.

Rise no more than the ceiling?

Where is the promised feeling?

I have faith that he is there,

But it's hard to feel in prayer.

Now those thoughts feel so foreign.

To not cry is alien.

Peace and solace brought to me.

Revelation I receive.

I have faith that he is there,

And I feel so in my prayer.

Moroni's Thought

I met a wonderful man named Moroni in my 4th area. You can learn about him by watching a video called "Step 5: Confession-Moroni's Story about Drug Addiction Recovery" :)

He truly is an incredible person and is one of the best member missionaries I know. Here is a thought that he shared with my companions and I alongside his friends.

The rest of the post is my written transcription of what Moroni has shared several times. Each time his thoughts were shifted depending on his audience. I did my best to merge and mold them into one.

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I do not want to go on judgement day to the judgement bar of God to find my friends turning to me and asking me questions I never want to hear. 

"Moroni. You knew about all of this? And you didn't tell us? Moroni, why didn't you tell us? This could have helped us so much down there." 

I might stutter out a response saying something like, 

"Well, I just didn't think you would be interested, and I was worried I might offend you."

To which the response comes,

"You didn't think we would be interested in all of this? In dwelling with God and our families forever? You didn't think we would be interested in having the Priesthood, the very authority and power of God itself, in our lives? And why would we get offended at you offering us something so wonderful that has helped you so drastically in your life? If we would have, we certainly shouldn't have."

I do not want that hanging over my head. I do not want God or my friends to ask me why I didn't help *insert one of Moroni's friend's names here* become worthy of the Priesthood they hold or *insert one of Moroni's friend's names here* prepare for the ordinance and covenant of baptism.

And so I share what I know and treasure. That Jesus is the Christ and is our Savior. And that His Church has been restored on the earth again. That it has changed my life and can change every single individual's.

Arian's Prayer

Arian is this cool 8-year old who is preparing to be baptized in my last area (Rock Springs, Wyoming).

We met with the whole family many times to help Arian prepare to be baptized and help the father prepare to be the one to baptize him. 

I actually got to participate in being in the circle when the father was given the Aaronic Priesthood. An awesome experience I got to have right before I left the area.

Anyhoo, Arian, in a prayer once, said something that I thought was kind of profound.

He's just an 8-year old, but what he said caugt my attention.

As he was praying he said, "Thank you for saving us every day."

Frequently when I think about the idea of being saved, I think of it more as a singular event. But, in reality, Jesus Christ saves us every day. Because we make mistakes every single day. And if even one of those days was not covered, we would not be able to return back to our Father in Heaven. 

Jesus Christ really does save us every single day. And for that, we should be grateful. Just like Arian is.

James's Comment

James is this awesome 9-year old from one of my favorite member families ever. He read the Book of Mormon with his dad when he was 7. His testimony of its truthfulness grew and he decided to be baptized when he was 8.

Watch out for this kid while playing board games! He's got a few tricks up his sleeve; he's no joke in the game of Secret Hitler. One P. Day when we were playing Secret Hitler with him, his mom, and his dad, James made a comment that caught my attention.

We frequently taught one of our friends who was not a member at their household. James often joined in for the conversations. That friend of ours decided to make covenants with God. They were baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

While playing a game with James, he said something to the effect of, "I think it's really cool what you guys did. You got someone who wasn't coming to church at all and helped them come to church to the point where they were even baptized!"

I overlooked the comment at first and simpled agreed with him. But the more I thought about it, the more cool it became. The thought of getting people who don't come to church to go and eventually be baptized is such a common thought amongst missionaries. It's what we try to help people do every single day.

And because of that, it's become so normal. You forgot how wonderful that thought truly is. Because it is really cool. We are helping people change their lives. We are helping people draw closer to God and their Savior. We are helping people make covenants with their Father in Heaven. And we do it every single day.

James, you are oh so right. It is really really really cool what we had the chance to do. And what I have the chance to do for these two years of my life.

I LOVE being a full-time missionary. I've never been so consistently and resiliently happy in my entire life.

Nearer To Thee

At the start of each year, my home ward does this thing where the missionaries write short talks and then one of the parents of the missionary reads them to the congregation. It's a great time. This is mine for this year. 

I was asked to focus my talk on "how the members of the Fallon Second Ward can draw closer to our Heavenly Father during this upcoming year."

It's kind of comical because a couple-few weeks later, after some boundary changes, the ward I am now in is the Fallon Third Ward.

Also due to the ward change, I'm unsure when, or even if, our talks will be read. Regardless of what takes place, here is my talk.

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Hello!

I'm under the impression currently that by the time this letter is read, our ward boundaries will have been changed. So that’s kind of weird. We’re not even the 2nd ward anymore. 

I thought I would have my mom introduce me real quick through means of her reading the words I have written.

I'm Elder Alexander Perazzo. I've been a missionary for almost 15 months now, which is wild. And I'm currently serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission, which was my original assignment. Our mission also includes most of Salt Lake and various surrounding areas, such as Midvale, Murray, Holladay, and Rose Park. It also includes the southwest 1/6th of Wyoming.

I started off by spending 10 and a half months in two areas both near Sugarhouse. I have been serving in Rock Springs, Wyoming for the past 4 and a half months, although I just got transferred back to Utah and am currently in my new area covering the Holladay YSA and the Olympus Stake. I actually happen to cover the ward of a member many of you will recognize; Becky Jamieson, my cousin.

I have loved my mission and the experiences/people I've been able to have/meet :)

I was asked to give a few thoughts on how we can draw closer to our Father in Heaven in this new year.

I have grown closer to my Savior and my Father in Heaven more so in the first year of my mission than at any other year I’ve experienced during this earthly life.

I think that is, primarily, for 3 reasons.

Reason #1

I have a consistent and large amount of time set apart for personal study almost every single day and my routine of saying prayers every morning and night, alongside other times during the day has been more constant and fervent than ever before.

Missionaries have 1 hour of personal study almost every single day of the week. It’s a beautifully sacred time where we get to immerse ourselves in the scriptures and the words of the living prophets.

I am not saying that you need to find an hour or even a half an hour of time to study the scriptures every day. That is simply not reasonable for many people.

What I am saying is that there is power in prayer. There is power in the scriptures. As Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren . . . man would get nearer to God by abiding by [the Book of Mormon’s] precepts, than by any other book.”

If you make those two simple things a priority in your life, everything will run smoother. Trust me. Make a sacrifice. You’ll gain far more than you’ll give up. 

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Reason #2

Trials, difficulties, and being simply uncomfortable is an abundant thing on a mission.

Missions are hard, believe it or not. But through trials, we grow. This is why life is so difficult. It is to prepare us for our future; our future both in this life and in the life after.

However, remember what Elder Eyring said in the past General Conference, “Now, even with such blessings promised through tribulation, we do not seek tribulation. In the mortal experience, we will have ample opportunity to prove ourselves, to pass tests hard enough to become ever more like the Savior and our Heavenly Father.

Rely on Christ during your difficult times. For me, doing so is when I grow the most.

Reason #3

I’m sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Restored Church with others.

I asked my previous companion, Elder Townsend the question this talk is based on. “In one or two sentences, how can we draw closer to our Heavenly Father?” His almost instant response was, “By helping others to do so.”

This principle is oh so very true. And I think it’s another reason why I’ve grown so much closer to my Savior and my Father in Heaven during my mission. Because I’m constantly trying to ‘invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel.”

It is such a beautiful thing to see people’s faith in God, Christ, and Christ Restored Church grow.

As we help others, our faith too will increase.

In regards to sharing it with other members of our Church, especially those of us with member families:

Be an example to your kids or siblings or even your parents. Share a favorite verse you found and an insight you had. Encourage your family to say prayers together or read the scriptures together. Start doing family prayer and scripture study alone, if you have to. Your family will soon join you.

In regards to sharing it with those not yet a part of Christ’s Restored Church:

I love what Elder Uchdorf says about sharing the gospel in normal and natural ways. “If someone asks about your weekend, don’t hesitate to talk about what you experienced at church.”

He, at another time, says,

“In fact, the gospel will be such an essential, precious part of your life that it would feel unnatural not to talk about it with others. That may not happen immediately—it is a lifelong effort. But it will happen.”

People are far more prepared to hear the truth of the Restored Gospel than many times we think they are. Please, share the gospel with others. Help the missionaries in your ward and ask them to help you in your efforts to share the Gospel. Ask your friends if they would be willing to hear more about your faith and how it can help them. You will grow nearer to God if you do so.

I know now more than ever before that this is Christ’s Restored Church. That Russell M. Nelson is a prophet on our earth today. That Christ did Atone for us, and that God is our loving Heavenly Father.

I bear witness of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hope is Sometimes Misunderstood

This is pretty much the talk I gave in the White Mountain ward on the 3rd of January, 2021.

You'll see in the talk, parts of it weren't written out but are more like [bear testimony about ______].

I didn't read it verbetim (except quotes, of course). I added many things here and there and took out a few things along the way. I don't like to just read straight from the page when I give talks. I reviewed my talk several times beforehand (both outloud and just reading the text) allowing me to just need reminders of what to talk about, rather than reading specific words off from a page.

But the basis of the talk, at least, is here for you to read :)

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-I'm the youngest of 5; they’re the best.

Diary Farm; Parent teach (Dad retired as a Theater/World History teacher, mom subs); I want to teach math

I pray that my words today alongside the words of many great prophets from our day and from the times of the scriptures will uplift you and bring you strength at the beginning of this new year.

I think, quite often, when people are posed with the question to say, in one word, what the Gospel of Jesus Christ means to them, or what the Atonement of Jesus Christ means to them, or what having the Restored Church of Christ means to them. I feel the most common word chosen is 'hope'. 

There are a lot of things we hope for. I searched up the word "hope" in my emails the other day trying to look for a specific email my friend sent me that I wanted to quote here. And I didn't realize just how frequently I use the word hope and how frequently I hope for things.

I hope you're doing well.

I hope your birthday was fantastic.

I hope this voice recording works.

I hope this helps.

I hope you're having a blast.

One in particular I found that I think is quite comical. Elder Townsend one day saying, "I hope this doesn't shatter everywhere" as he proceeds to throw a burnt-out lightbuld, which misses the trashcan and then shatters everywhere.

There are a lot of things that we can hope for, but more often it feels like a wish rather than "believing and expecting that something will occur," and having "an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you." which is what Preach My Gospel defines ‘hope’ as.  

Gospel topics says,

“The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active.” 

Finding things to hope for never seems to be the problem. There are many things each one of us long for. There are many things each one of us yearn for. 

And, I think, especially as we all head into this new year, there’s a lot of things we want to hope for.

Exactly as Elder Holland said back in April 2020 General Conference in his talk "A Perfect Brightness of Hope, which I will quote a couple times today,

“Many in this audience today have deeply personal hopes: hope for a marriage to improve, or sometimes just hope for a marriage; hope for an addiction to be conquered; hope for a wayward child to come back; hope for physical and emotional pain of a hundred kinds to cease.”

But how can we make sure our hope is a “firm hope” and a “lively hope” as talked about in the scriptures? (Alma and in 1 Peter)

And where can we find this hope?

Elder Uchtdorf said back in October 2018 that, “This hope is found in the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the Savior’s redemptive power to heal us of our soul-sickness.”

[Bear testimony about how important the Atonement of Jesus Christ is and how it makes sense that it's the source of our hope]

It was cool for me to come across 1 Timothy 1:1 which, when talking about Christ, says "Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;"

[Jesus Christ really is our hope]

So, I think, one of the best ways we can increase in our hope is by increasing our faith that Jesus Christ really is our Savior and Redeemer

And as gospel topics says, “We increase in hope as we pray and seek God’s forgiveness. In the Book of Mormon, a missionary named Aaron assured a Lamanite king, ‘If thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest’ (Alma 22:16). We also gain hope as we study the scriptures and follow their teachings.”

I know this principle to be true. And I wanted to highlight that last line. “We also gain hope as we study the scriptures and follow their teachings.” 

As missionaries we have an hour to ourselves each morning where we have the chance to study. And I find myself very frequently getting ‘distracted’ per se by various other things. There are so many things to study and read that I frequently fail to turn to the simple wonderful teachings in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures.

Simply reading a chapter, or just a few verses, from the Book of Mormon can, perhaps, be the most important part of your daily studies. 

Your hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will increase as you do so, I can promise that.

I wanted to share a scripture that highlights both having hope and also reading from the word of God.

2 Nephi 31:20 states, “Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”

I wanted to highlight more blessings of having and developing hope. This is one of my favorite things to do because it gets me excited to continue 'trying to be like Jesus'.

1 John 3:3 states,

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as [Jesus Christ] is pure."

And in Proverbs it reads,

"The hope of the righteous shall be gladness." Proverbs 10:28

Preach My Gospel shares a lot of them with us.

It says,

"It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. 

           

Life is not easy. It is not meant to be. I believe my companion is also planning on using this scripture, but it’s so good I thought it might as well be used twice. Although life is not easy, “Whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God”

That scripture can be found in Ether 12:4.

[I didn't end up using the scripture because I was running out of time. I just referenced it]

I know that as we increase our belief and faith in God, our hope for a better world will increase.

And as we put our trust in our Savior, the power and strength we receive through Christ's Atonement will increase; we will feel a difference.

I remember back in the MTC and in my first transfer; those were the hardest times on my mission. I felt inadequate; I felt lots and lots of fear, which is the opposer to faith and hope; I would frequently have mental breakdowns. Almost every time I would knock a door, I would secretly wish no one would answer so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.

And moments like those certainly still take place. But I have grown so much since then. And I believe that is because we, as missionaries, are constantly surrounded and nourished by ‘the good word of God’ and the strengthening power of the Spirit through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

But a mission is not the only place we can receive that power through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

There’s a reason we as a church do our best to partake of the sacrament every week. There’s a reason we are encouraged to hold daily scripture study and prayer.

And, with the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we can constantly receive guidance and comfort and hope through the Spirit.

Romans 15:13 testifies of this saying, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

I would like to close with the testimony of Elder Holland alongside mine.

Elder Holland said, Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds.

That is what the scripture meant when Abraham was able to hope against hope—that is, he was able to believe in spite of every reason not to believe—that he and Sarah could conceive a child when that seemed utterly impossible. 

He continues by saying,

I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence.

There is reason to hope. I know more deeply now than I ever have in my life that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that our Father in Heaven loves us with a love we cannot yet comprehend.

[Bear testimony of how I've seen how Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us individually]

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior. Amen.

Divergent: whaaaaat's thaaat?

 Hey! Eric here (this is Eric.) And I just realized, I have no idea what Divergent is? So if Alex Elder Perazzo knows what it is (which I think he does) then maybe he could explain it to me when he gets home. As a podcast episode.

okay see ya

(this is Eric)

2020: My Year in Review

2020.

I'm sure I've written this plenty of other places by now, so it's possible you've already heard this from me. But I thought it would be good to have it here as well.

2020 has been a year full of trials, tribulations, deaths, fears, confusion, hopelessness, pain, destruction, unrest among many other things. 

It's been one where I have experienced many trials. I am, after all, on a mission. I don't think it's possible to go through a mission without trials. It's been a year where my testimony has been attacked and tried. One with lots of heartache. One with many moments of frustration and confusion. One with many tears shed. One full of uncomfortable situations. One with moments of dispair.

And yet I will always look back on 2020 with fondness.

2020 for me is what missionaries (some, at least. I'm pretty sure it's not very common anymore. We heard the term from some other Elders in our district who heard it from an old guy who served his mission many many years ago) call my 'dark year'. This is the year on your mission where the entirety of it is spent on your mission.

The entirety of the year 2020 I have spent on my mission. What a blessing that has been.

I will always look back on this year as one where I drew closer to my Savior. One where my testimony has deepened in ways I thought not possible. One where I have seen miracles. One where I have had the beautiful blessing of helping people make and keep sacred covenants. One where I have grown closer to the Spirit and have become attentive to promptings. One where I have met some incredible people who I cherish.

One where I have learned more fully who I am and who I want to become. One where I have developed many of my gifts and talents. One where I have seen many parts of my Patriarchal Blessing come to light. One full of laughter. One full of joy. One full of growth. One where I have seen many things that are not mere coincidences.