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.

A #givethanks Compilation

A compilation of my #givethanks posts I put up on facebook during the 7-day invitation given by President Nelson. Starting from the first post going to the last.

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I'm thankful for a prophet:)

Hearing the words of a modern-day prophet is a calm reassurance that God is very much aware of us right now and always.

#givethanks

[Video of President Nelson's message shared from his page]

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I am thankful for my family 😊

I love my family too much to not make a thankful post about them. 

I am who I am in large part because they are who they are.

I have now sat here for many-a-minutes trying to find proper words to describe my adoration and appreciation for those in my family. 

I can't seem to find words that do justice to how important these six individuals are to me.

#givethanks

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I'm thankful for prayer!

Throughout a vast majority of my life, prayer has never been meaningful to me. I always prayed because I knew it was the thing to do, and I always did my best to say nice, eloquent things because it makes the prayer sound pretty/"good". 

But I never got anything out of it.

I rarely felt like anyone was listening.

There's obviously a whole lot more I could talk about there. 

Prayer is now so critical to me in my daily life. I rely on it, I recieve revelation through it, and I love it.

There's obviously a whole lot more there too that I could talk about. How this change came about and such, but I feel as though I should refrain.

Feel free to ask me about it all sometime, though.

I'm so very thankful for prayer.

#givethanks

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I'm thankful for cereal and ice cream (and pineapples, but we'll focus on the other two).

Yes, all of that cereal is mine. Cereal is wonderful. It works great both as a meal and as a snack. 

At any time of day or night, cereal can be depended upon.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is, quite possibly, my favorite food. (Although I prefer Meadow Gold over the Blue Ribbon that is featured in the photo.) 

There's a reason I worked at Dairy Queen for over a year.

#givethanks

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I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had thus far to serve a mission.

This past year has been a year of the most intense growth as a person I've experienced. Intense growth, of course, does not come through painless experiences.

This past year has been really really hard.

But I have seen God's hand in my life and in the lives of others. I have met people whom I will never forget and who I adore. I have experienced some of the greastest joys alongside those deep sorrows.

And my belief in Christ has never been stronger.

#givethanks

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I am thankful for my hobbies/passions!

Books (Brandon Sanderson with some others spiced in), Board games (actually good ones. Scythe, Viticulture, Dominion, Quacks of Quedlinburg, Caverna, and Coup are some of my favorites), Video Games (Nintendo with some others spiced in), Tennis (both singles and doubles).

I get so excited and happy when thinking/talking/doing any of those things:)

#givethanks

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I'm curious how many posts today will be about the Savior.

He is the ultimate thing to be grateful for, eh?

Because of him, we will all live again. Because of him, we can find peace and lasting joy in this life. Because of him, we can be with our family's for forever. Because of him, we can become more like him--more kind, loving, meek, humble, patient, happy, and understanding.

Are those not the greatest things?

And they are only because of Jesus Christ and what he's done for us.

#givethanks

My Own

I wish I had spent more of my time writing. Having thoughts on paper in a shareable format is really nice.

Of course, sometimes it's a struggle to have words come out the way we desire them to or they can't seem to do justice to what you want to say.

I think that's part of the joy, though. Wrestling with the complex thoughts in our head, trying to puzzle your way through the use of words.

Granted, at other times it's what can make writing terribly frustrating. When nothing you write seems to say what you want it to and you have very little time to mill through it again.

But, it makes it all the more satisfying when you finally do find what feel like the words that, in a way, were needing to be written. 

And, perhaps, even much more satisfying is when the words do seem to flow naturally. And what you do want to say align so flawlessly with the words appearing on the screen in front of you.

It's a beautiful thing, eh?

I could write much more about this, I'm sure. In fact, I already have in a blog post I wrote previously to this that will most likely remain unpublished until after my misson.

There is a God. One who loves us. We have a Savior. The Church and gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God.

I have a strong belief in these things. Individually of everyone else, now. I love how I can now recognize that my testimony has become my own. Strengthened by others, of course. 

But my own.

Jerome; a #givethanks post

So yesterday was Jerome's birthday (he claims he's turning 59, but he's been 59 for the past year, so that tells you something's up, haha. I know his real age, but it is a secret everyone must find on their own).

I was going to do a #givethanks for him on Facebook, but something felt weird with it being so public. 

Like, if I shared only a little, people would wonder who the heck Jerome is. Which isn't horrible. I almost went for this option.

If I shared a medium amount, it would fix the previously stated problem, but we run into the next problem of me feeling like it's not enough. It would be at that weird point where things are said, but something just feels lacking.

If I shared a large amount, it would fix the previously stated problems, but we run into the next problem of it being a kind of private thing that I'm sharing with tons of people who don't know Jerome, and it might be a little weird. Or, perhaps, they do know Jerome but it would be weird for them for a missionary to dedicate a whole #givethanks post to him. I don't know.

Point being: Something was off and it wasn't fitting together, so yesterday instead I decided to do my post on how I'm thankful for the opportunity thus far to serve a mission.

I came up with the idea to simply post about Jerome on my blog instead. Feels better that way.

I'm going to act like it was written yesterday (aka, his birthday).

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I am thankful for Jerome!

It's his birthday today, so I thought it would be cool to write about him.

He'll claim he's 59, but he's been saying he's 59 for the past year, so that tells you something is up, haha. 

Discovering his age, which is one of the great unknowns of the universe, was an opportunity I only had because I was blessed to serve in his ward for 6 months of my mission.

Jerome does not like flattery. I think the difference between flattery and a sincere compliment is just that: sincerity. I hope my sincerity can get across in my writings.

Who is Jerome?

He is a man in one of the wards I served in for 6 months. He lived across the basketball court away from us (so: really really close by).

But who is Jerome?

Jerome is a man who teaches. He taught many people alongside us missionaries. He taught me to value Preach My Gospel. He has taught me many valuable principles, which would take far too long to write down here.

Jerome is a man who helps. He has helped me recognize my efforts. He has helped me understand what I truly value. He has helped me learn how to center and ground myself.

Jerome is a man who, when asked, would, if he was able, provide. He provided us a large box for Man on a Mission Episode 4. He provided us a car and a honk in Man on a Mission Episode 5. He provided us many many things.

Each of those sections could be much much longer, but I'll refrain from making them so.

If I had to put it in one sentence, it would but thus:

Jerome is a man who sacrifices.

He claims he does it for the "blessings", but I know it's truly out of love. Love for the Lord and love for the Lord's missionaries.

Save certain companions only, Jerome is the individual who has had the greatest impact on me as a person and as a missionary during the course of my mission.

#givethanks

His Individualized Plan

So many things I could write about.

At the time of my writing of this, It's been 4 weeks since I entered into Wyoming.

I am consistently amazed at how personal and wonderful God's tender mercies are. And at how grand his plan for us is.

Heavenly Father truely does have an individual plan for each and every single one of us.

At the very least, I can bear testimony that he has a plan for me as an individual. But I can also testify that that doesn't just apply to me. That wouldn't make any sense if it just applied to me. It applies to you too. 

This truth, that God knows me as an individual and has a plan for me (and also knows you as an individual and has a plan for you), is something I have grown a firm testimony of in the past 11 months.

This was something that I struggled to grasp before my mission. It was hard to imagine, and often even harder to feel, that God knew me as an individual and truely cared and loved for me as an individual.

I mean, I knew it on paper. Because I had faith in Jesus Christ and his Restored Church and that is one of the things his church teaches. But it was difficult for me to feel that truth for myself. ('Tis an interesting topic that I'm sure I could write much more about. The idea of knowing something in theory but not necessarily knowing it for yourself. It's hard to find the right words to describe it.)

So how do I know this to be true?

Simply put, I have seen Heavenly Father put specific people in my life when are where I need them. I did not meet these people by mistake or coincidance. I met these people because Heavenly Father has a plan.

Tchau tchau!!

~Elder Perazzo