So this week started off somewhat interesting. So off and on throughout my mission I have been experiencing some pretty bad in-grown toenails (gross I know), but I had been toughing it out trying to fix them up on my own. However the past few weeks the pain has gotten pretty unbearable, lol. So, we decided to get ‘em fixed up. We went to the local foot doctor and they poked my two big toes with some big needles to numb them, and then cut the in-growns out. The funny thing is, I was completely fine with the needles and blood and stuff, but Elder Randall watching from the sidelines got a little lightheaded. He doesn’t do well with that kind of thing. So yeah, I had a good start to the week. :)
We weren’t able to work as much as we wanted to this week, as I was put of of business for a day with my toes. We had our multi-zone training and a few other things that kept us from working a lot in our area. But of the time we did have, we spent just about every second knocking doors to find new people to start teaching. One thing I’ve found from being here in this part of Piura, is that it’s a heck of a lot harder to knock doors and get inside people’s houses. Everyone loves to come up with some crazy excuse as to why they can’t listen to a message about Jesus for 10 minutes. I get pretty heated when we knock a door and they open and tell us that they are “occupied”, and then we watch them walk back to their couch and continue watching TV. I always tell Elder Randall that I would rather have them just say they don’t want to listen than come up with some crazy lie. Some people don’t even make sense. For example, one night we were knocking doors, and we knocked a house with a window open and a guy lounging on his couch watching some good ole futbol. When he heard us, he looked out the window at us and waved his finger saying “Nobody’s here”. When I heard that I just laughed and said, “So who are you?”, but he didn’t respond. Maybe he was a ghost or something. Knocking doors day-in and day-out and talking with these types of people has been a huge test of patience for me. Sometimes I really have to bite my tongue when someone lies to us or is just plain rude. Elder Randall has been helping me to try and have patience with people. He always tells me to think of the classic “WWJD?” (What Would Jesus Do?) It’s kind of cliché, but it’s so true. Every time I hear something rude towards us, or some kind of lie, I try to think how Christ would react. Almost always, I find that he would act contrary to what I want to do, ha ha. So that is something I have been trying to put into practice.
On Thursday we had our multi-zone conference. The entire conference was focused on the second principle of the gospel — repentance. President talked a lot about how sometimes we think of repentance as something negative or bitter, but really it is something wonderful and sweet. It is through the atonement and repentance that we receive joy and peace. He shared the scripture in Alma 36:21 that says, “Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.” As we can see, it is not repenting that is bitter and sad, but rather NOT repenting that brings us misery and sadness. I am so grateful for the gift of the atonement in my life and for the opportunity that I have to repent and grow from my mistakes. Like I said last week, repentance truly is a blessing.
On Saturday we had another baptism! A few weeks ago we started teaching a little 11 year old girl named Duani. Duani lives with her family who are all members, but are less-active in the church. Duani has always come to church with her uncle Jimmy, and for that reason we always thought she was a member. However, one day as we were passing by, her mom stopped us and asked if we could give Duani a blessing, as she had been sick. After the blessing, we started talking to them and found out that Duani wasn’t ever baptized! So, the past few weeks we taught her the lessons and of course she accepted to be baptized. It’s funny how the Lord works sometimes. The baptism went great, (finally no major problems) as Duani was baptized by her uncle. I think this baptism was really good for Duani’s family. During the closing hymn of the service, I noticed her mom tearing up a little bit. Hopefully this can help them start to come to church again.
Well, that’s all for this week! I hope you are all doing well back home! I’ll talk to you all next week. Go Jazz!
Avanza Su Verdad!
Elder Bailey
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