Week 9

Hey!

How’s everyone doing? Another week down here in the Piura Vida. I think it would be safe to say that this week was a pretty normal one, and typical of what it’s usually going to be like. I think I’m starting to get used to the routine here. Lots of teaching, lots of work, and lots of fun. Oh, and lots of heat also. ;)

On Sunday, church went a lot smoother. Maybe my first week was just a bad day, but sacrament meeting was pretty unorganized. This week was a lot better and under control. We didn’t randomly get called on to speak so that was good too, lol. During second hour, me and Elder Bayona taught the Principles of the Gospel class to all the recent converts. It went really well. I’m starting to get a lot more confident with my Spanish when I teach. I think for the most part I make sense with what I’m trying to say. I believe we are going to teach that class every Sunday. Oh I almost forgot, we had 7 of our investigators come to church! It was awesome.

Sunday night we met up with all of the missionaries in Sullana to do what we call “Invasiones”. Basically we choose one area to go to in Sullana and all the missionaries meet up there and go visit less actives, investigators, or recent converts. It’s really helpful for the missionaries in the chosen area because they can get a lot of appointments scheduled for their week. This week we chose to go to Querecotillo. Querecotillo is about a 20 minute bus ride east of my area in Sullana and it is super pretty. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little jealous of the missionaries there.It’s a super quiet area with lots of fields and trees that are actually green!! It was super nice to get out of the busy city for a few hours. And apparently the missionaries have hot showers there. So they are definitely living lavish there. But anyways, Invasiones is super fun to meet up with all the other missionaries. It’s easily one of my favorite things to do.

P-day was super fun. We met up with some of the other missionaries in Sullana and chilled at their place. We all paid three soles to get lunch from a member, and she made us a HUGE bucket of spaghetti. No joke the thing probably weighed like 30 pounds. We took the food up to the roof of their apartment and chilled and ate up there. It was super fun. I’ve never eaten that much spaghetti before…

On Friday we knocked a lot of doors. We didn’t really have any appointments with anyone so that’s basically all we did. We didn’t really have a ton of success the whole day except for like the last door we knocked. A younger lady opened the door. Her name is Ania and she’s Catholic, but her and her sister were super open to hearing our message of the restoration. We invited them to church and they said yes! They seem super interested and I’m so glad we decided to knock one more door. We can always knock one more. 

On Saturday we taught Sonya and her son Lander. We met them in the street one of more first nights here. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and how it’s another testament of Christ. They seemed interested se we scheduled an appointment for the following week. Well, when the time came to teach them, we couldn’t find their house (directions are really bad here). The next day Sonya’s son Lander, who is 12, ran up to us in the street and said, “Hey! Where were you guys last night? We had an appointment!” It was super awesome to see that they were committed and were waiting for us to come. Anyways, Lander pointed out where they lived, and yesterday we were able to teach them the Restoration. Let’s just say that they were prepared. Sonya and Lander listened carefully to everything we had to say, and when we recited the First Vision, tears filled Sonya’s eyes. The spirit was so strong and it was awesome. We invited them to be baptized on the 28th of October and they agreed. As soon as we gave them the date of the 28th Lander immediately took my pen and wrote the date on his hand so he wouldn’t forget. It was awesome. This was such a testimony builder to me that there really are people out there who are prepared to hear the word. They just don’t know where to find it. I’m so glad that I can be a messenger that brings this great news to people here. It’s experiences like this that make all the difficult days worth it. 

I know this gospel is true and I love the Lord! I hope you all are doing well back home. I miss you all so much! I’ll talk to y’all next week. General conference!! Yeah boy.

Elder Bailey

Week 8

Hey everyone!  

Another week down in the mission field.  This week was a lot better for me.  I am definitely starting to get accustomed to life here.  I also had my first baptism!  It was super awesome.  I’ll just go through my week and talk about some of my experiences.

Last Sunday was interesting.  After the sacrament we got called up to give a talk.  Obviously my Spanish isn’t great yet so I just introduced myself and bore my testimony.  It was crazy to stand up there and realize that here I am in a foreign land with people who I’ve never met and who don’t speak my language, yet we can share and relate to the gospel and that is the same everywhere.  I testify that the truth is in all parts of the earth.

Our p-day on Monday was super fun.  We decided to take a bus into Piura to go to one of the malls.  The mall in the middle of Piura is crazy nice.  It really sticks out compared to the rest of the city.  It was like walking back into America.  They had a bunch of stores like H&M and a ton of American restaurants like KFC and Pizza Hut.  It was super fun to walk through all the stores and feel like I was back home for a little while.

On Friday we had a multi-area conference in Piura with Elder Zivic of the seventy.  It was super fun to go into Piura again with all the elders from my area.  We had training from him for most of the morning/afternoon and then had lunch.  It was super fun and a good change of pace.  After the training, Elder Bayona and I went to the mission office to get some supplies and my week was made when I found a package from home!  Thanks so much Mom!  You’re the best.  Ah, it was awesome.  Anyway, Friday night we went to visit Joseph and talk about his baptism.  When we asked who he wanted to baptize him, he chose me!  I was so pumped.  He is my first baptism!  Man, what a good day.

Saturday was awesome as well.  On Saturdays we usually have our district meeting.  We talk about our goals and investigators and stuff like that.  After that we had lunch at a member’s house which was really good.  It’s funny because a lot of the people here have chickens in their houses that just roam around.  But this lady had like 20 chickens just everywhere in her house as we ate.  It was hilarious.  Later we had the baptism of Joseph!!  It was one of the coolest experiences ever.  The spirit was so strong throughout the entire meeting.  When it came time to do the baptism, I had a hard time saying the words because I felt the spirit so strong and was choked up a little bit.  I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to baptize Joseph.  It was an experience I will never forget.  After this baptism, I constantly kept thinking of the words of D&C 18:15: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of the Father!”  Thinking about the baptism of Joseph, my joy is definitely great.  When I think about the importance of baptism and what it means, I can’t help but feel overwhelming joy for him.  This baptism has mad me hungry for more.  I want to work as hard as I can to bring as many souls as I can to the waters of baptism.  It’s truly amazing.  This mission is definitely a sacrifice to be away from my family, friends and home for 2 years, but when I have opportunities like the one I had on Saturday to baptize, it definitely makes it all worth it.  Missionary work is truly amazing.  Talk to you next week!

Nos vemos,

Elder Bailey

Week 7

Well, I am officially a real missionary. Me and four other missionaries from the CCM flew into the Piura “airport” early on Tuesday morning (It wasn’t much of an airport). As we touched down, I got an overwhelming feeling that this is where I need to be at this time. After we got our bags we were immediately met by president and Hermana Rasmussen and some of the APs. We took some moto-taxis to the mission home. The mission home is basically a giant mansion here. It’s really nice. There we had the best breakfast I’ve had in six weeks: unlimited eggs and pancakes. It was amazing. After that we had some lessons and then we found out our trainers and areas. I am companions with Elder Bayona from Lima. He doesn’t speak any English so I’ve had to pick up the language pretty quick. It’s been fun. I also have been teaching him English as well. He’s getting better everyday just like me. Elder Bayona is awesome though, he’s a really good missionary and he’s really patient with me. We are assigned to serve in the City of Sullana. It is about a forty minute bus ride north of Piura. Let’s just say this place is a lot different then back home or even Lima. It’s a desert here, so it’s not the prettiest place in the world, but you could say it is pretty in other ways. Most of the streets are dirt or sand, and in some parts of town the streets have a river of human waste. In those parts we just hold our ties over our noses and run. It’s funny. When we got to our apartment, we opened the door to find the place completely destroyed. Whoever were the last missionaries must have been living like chanchos. There was garbage and food and dishes everywhere. The worst part was the bathroom. It was atrocious. So we spent the first night just cleaning everything for a few hours. It was definitely my first challenge of the mission field. We have the place looking decent now, but I still can’t figure out how to fix the smell. Oh well. 

As far as the work goes, there is so much to do. We don’t know anyone or any members here. The first few days we spent just looking for recent converts and investigators. It’s really hard because nobody knows where anything is and there aren’t any street signs. So it’s been a bit of a struggle. We have been able to find and teach all of our investigators with baptismal dates, though, which is 7. I hope that they can all come through and be baptized. One that I have really come to like is Josef. Josef is an 11 year old boy who has a good understanding of the gospel. I teach him some English every time we visit him. He is super awesome and I hope he ends up being baptized. 

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that this was one of the longest and hardest weeks of my life. The days are very long and hot and physically draining. I completely stand out and most people look at me funny or laugh. I can’t speak very well and can’t completely understand other people. It has definitely been hard and a challenge. But I know why I am here: to bless the lives of others by bringing them to the gospel. One scripture that sticks out in my mind is Alma 36:24, “Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

This is what I want to say at the end of my mission. I want to say that I have brought souls to receive the same joy which I have received. I know that it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. 

Thanks for your prayers and support. I love and miss you all tons.

Elder Bailey

Week 6: Piura!

Hey!

I made it to Piura! We woke up at 1:45am this morning and loaded up in a van to go to the airport. So, we are all running on about three hours of sleep. Our plane ride was about one hour thirty minutes. It went pretty quick. As soon as we began to land I got such an overwhelming feeling that this is where I need to be and it totally felt like home. It was awesome. I’m so excited. 

We were immediately greeted by President and Hermana Rasmussen and the AP’s. They are all so awesome. We have had a few things like orientation this morning but not much. I’m just so excited to find out where I will be serving.

I hope you are all doing great. I love you all so much!!

Elder Bailey

SaveSave