On Tuesday Kevin and Guadalupe’s mom invited us over for dinner. (Kevin and Guadalupe are some of our recent converts). It was super cool considering we almost never get invited to dinner. When we got to their house, their mom had prepared a big feast of one of my favorite Peruvian foods: Anticuchos (cow heart). It sounds really weird but it’s pretty good. It was super fun to sit down with Kevin, Guadelupe, and their mom, Luz, and eat dinner and have a good time with them. It’s been so cool to see their progress in the gospel and the changes it has brought in their lives. Those two are such studs.
Thursday was the multi-zone training for this transfer. President Rasmussen talked about the role of the spirit in missionary work. It was super good and I learned a lot. The spirit really does miracles out here. There has been countless times on my mission where after the first lesson investigators have said things like “I don’t know why, but I just feel really good right now”, or “To me this just feels right”. It’s amazing to see and experience the role of the spirit in the conversion. It is what truly teaches people, not us.
Friday was honestly one of the toughest days of my mission. For one, we probably had a record amount of doors shut in our faces. Usually the people here will listen to what you have to say for a minute or two, but they were NOT feeling it. It was kind of a tough day knocking, but we tried to keep our heads up as we walked over to our main man Javier (our golden investigator). When we got to his house, we peeked inside his window to find him on his couch watching some TV. We were happy to see him there in his house, as the past few days we weren’t able to find him. However, when we knocked on his door, he didn’t come out. After a few minutes of knocking and waiting, his sister finally came out and told us something that made our hearts drop. She said, “Sorry but Javier is traveling back to Venezuela. He’s already bought a bus ticket.” We are absolutely stunned. When we first started teaching him, Javier told us that he had been working in Venezuela, but came back to Peru with all the crazy stuff happening in Venezuela right now, So apparently he’s heading back there now. The weirdest part about all of this is that when we asked his sister if we could talk to him for a little (to maybe send his info to some other missionaries) she said he didn’t want to talk to us. I just want to know what’s happening with him and why he’s going back to Venezuela or why he doesn’t even want to talk to us. It’s just so sad. He was literally a perfect investigator, and was going to be baptized next week. I guess things just happen that are out of your control. It just hurst a little. Me and Elder Randall said it feels like we just had a breakup with a girlfriend, haha. It’s hard and painful but you can’t do anything but grit your teeth and move on. I have no doubt, however, that he will find some missionaries later on and be baptized. Javier was the man. :( On to the next one!
Our bright spot of this week was that we started teaching our Pensionisa’s cousin, Pool (yes that’s his name). He’s 17 and kind of shy, but he’s super cool. Our pensionista, Sandy, said that he has had a little bit of a rough home life and is going to startling with her and her husband, Roger. Pool is super humble and really open to learning. He accepted a date to be baptized and showed up to church on Sunday with Roger and Sandy. I’m super excited to keep teaching him. I think we can be a really good influence for him in his life. We love to talk some futbol with him. He’s a really good kid.
Well, that’s the quick update for this week. Me and Elder Randall are still working as hard as we did on day 1 together. There isn’t anything that will slow us down. We’re gonna keep grinding no matter what happens.
I love you all. The work continues.
Avanza Su Verdad! #TakeNote
Elder Bailey
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius
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