Week 56

Hey!
So not a whole lot of time today, but I just wanted to share a little miracle I had this week:

Saturday morning while studying, we got a call from a foreign number. I answered and heard, "Hey is this Elder Bailey in the Peru Piura Mission?" I said it was, and then asked the guy what was up. He told me he was an Elder serving in the Chile Antofagasta mission, and that he had some good news for me. I was pretty confused, not having any idea what good news a missionary from Chile could possibly have for me. He then asked me if I was the missionary that had found and taught Javier Farfan in Piura, Peru. (If you dont remember Javier, he was me and Elder Randall's "golden investigator" that we had found and taught a few months ago.) When the Elder mentioned Javier, I got really anxious considering that I hadnt heard anything about him in months and the Elders in Piura had also lost contact with him. After replying to the Elder that I had in fact taught Javier, he said the following, 

"Wow. Thank you Elder Bailey for all your work. We're happy to tell you that his baptism is today. He wanted us to call you to thank you for finding him and for helping him change his life."


I was left without words. Ever since I was transferred from Piura I had been praying hard for Javier that he might one day be baptized, even though I knew I would probably never see or hear from him again. I have never in my life seen anyone as prepared to recieve the gospel as was Javier. We were the first missionaries to ever teach Javier, and in just a month or two he had read and studied almost the entire Book of Mormon and knew it was all true. We had taught him all the lessons and even taught him thoroughly about the temple and the blessings we recieve there. We had worked so hard with him towards his baptism, but he just couldnt overcome some problems. There was nothing more that I wanted for Javier to be baptized... However I knew there was something special about him, and I knew that he would one day be baptized.

Turns out that Javier had followed through with his plans to move to Chile that he once had mentioned to us, and had found the church there (that's why the Elders in Piura weren't able to find him). The Elders were able to help him overcome his problems, make new commitments, and he was baptized a member of the church on Saturday. I honestly can't explain the pure joy I feel to know that Javier was finally baptized and that his story didn't end as a mystery for me. "Javs" was definitely someone prepared by the hand of the Lord and I have no doubt that he will be a strong member of this church and an asset to his new ward in Chile. This was a miracle for me this week and a huge highlight of my mission. Im so grateful that the Lord was able to guide me and Elder Randall to Javier, and that we were able to play a part in his conversion to the Lord.

Avanza Su Verdad!
Elder Bailey

Week 55

This week was really good! Things are going really well with my new comp Elder Quispe. He’s the man and a really great missionary. We work well together and both have strong desires to work hard and be obedient. This week we focused a lot on finding new people and adding to our teaching pool.

The highlight of the week was finding a 19 year-old kid named Juan. After knocking on his door and explaining that we had a message about Christ, he quickly let us in to listen. Anyone who has ever been a missionary or has done any kind of missionary work will tell you that it’s not very often that you find someone that understands the message of the restoration with perfect clarity in the first lesson. However, this was 100% the case with Juan. He listened carefully to everything we taught about Christs restored Church on the Earth, and by the end of the lesson he seemed to be deeply impacted by our message. When we asked him if he had any questions about what we had taught, he said no, but quietly thanked us and said, “Wow. To be honest I didn’t know about any of this…” We explained to him that there are lots of people that haven’t heard of it, and for that reason we have left our homes and families for two years to tell everyone all about it. It’s such a special opportunity to be a missionary and to be able to bring this great news to people for the first time. I have a good feeling about Juan and hope to see him progress. He seems to me like someone special.

On Wednesday we did some service by helping our pensionista, Hermana Jenny, hand-make a dessert called “Natillas de arroz,” which is basically a type of caramel that you eat with bread or cookies. It took quite a bit of time and hard work to hand-grind rice and sugar and then melt it all together in a pot over an open fire, but it was pretty fun to make. The caramel didn’t turn out too pretty, but Jenny seemed to be grateful for our help.

On Saturday we went on visits with our ward leaders to an area called “La Eantera”, a place where literally hundreds of inactive members live.  We thought it would be good to help out the ward recover some strength considering the declining number of church attendance here. One of the visits we made was to an old farmer named “Juan el Bautista”  (In english his name would literally be “John the Baptist”). Juan was baptized in the Tumbes river in the year 1984, and was one of the first members in all of Tumbes, Peru. He and his family were the pioneers in creating a small branch here in La Cruz, which would later be what is now our ward. It was really cool to hear his story and to learn a little more about the history of the church In this area. Hopefully we can help him and his big family of about 40-80 members out to church again. 

Saturday night while contacting in a little park we got a call from our ward mission leader, Luis Tito, saying he had cornered a big rat in his house and needed some help to kill it. considering the rat problems we had in the past, we were happy to help him out. When we got over to his house he had the guy cornered under his fridge. We couldn’t get him to come out so we decided to heat up some water to throw under the fridge to force him out. It worked, and the rat shot out like a rocket from under the fridge and then for about 15 seconds we were all scrambling around like a bunch of fools trying to stomp on him. It was hilarious. Unfortunately the little bugger won the battle and got away buy hiding inside one of the couches. After shaking the couches for a good 10 minutes he wasn’t coming out. Finally we gave up and resulted to putting out some rat poison to finish the job. One of these days I’ll finally get ahold of one of those sneaky little guys…

Well thats it for this week. The work is moving along little by little here in La Cruz. But its by those little steps of progress we’re hoping to see miracles. We’ve just got to keep working hard and trusting in the Lord! 

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey

2 Nephi 25:26 "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

Week 54

Wow, so this week was an absolute blur. Right after emailing home last Monday, I started feeling really, really crappy. We headed back to the room to rest and things just kept getting worse and worse. I spent the whole night with a high fever and chills and I was throwing up. It was definitely one of the most painful sicknesses I can remember having in my entire life. I seriously felt like I was going to die, haha. The next morning, things hadn’t really gotten any better, so we called the mission office and they thought it’d be best to head into Tumbes to get checked out. So we went to the hospital and after taking some blood samples and running some tests, the doctor came in to tell me that I had a pretty sever intestinal infection. Crazy, right? He said I probably had gotten it from something I ate. I have no doubt that it was the plate of Ceviche (typical Peruvian dish that consists of raw fish and onions) that I had eaten the day before. I’m definitely going to be cutting Ceviche out of the diet for the rest of the mish. Anyways, the doctor thought that it would be best to keep me overnight in the hospital while they hooked me up on an IV to get me some liquids and antibiotics. Everything went well, and I’m better now, but I have to say it was quite the unique experience to experience Peruvian healthcare, lol. I don’t have time to write all about it, but ask me about it when I’m home. So yeah, most of this week I was stuck in bed resting up. I’m grateful to be alive! Haha, kidding.

However, on Saturday I was feeling a little better and we were able to have Lucila’s baptism! Her baptism for sure was one of the most well-planned and organized baptisms that I’ve seen here in the mission. The members showed up, a member of the bishopric was present, the assigned talk-givers came through, and we ALMOST started on time! It was awesome. Lucila is the sweetest little girl ever, and is one of my favorite baptisms I’ve had. I’ve developed such a special bond with her and absolutely loved teaching her. She understands the gospel so well and in such a deep way for only being 9 years old. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to follow Jesus and be baptized. She has also set a good example for her non-member dad and her inactive mom. They both came to her baptism and showed up on Sunday for her confirmation. Lucila is definitely someone special. 

This week was transfers! I’ll be staying here in La Cruz for at least another 6 week and my new companion is Elder Quispe! He’s from Trujillo, Peru and is a stud. He was actually in my district back in Piura when I was a DL there, so I know him pretty well. We’re excited to get workin’ together. Hopefully we’ll see some baptisms this transfer. 

This week I was reading in Alma about one of my heroes of the Book of Mormon: Captain Moroni. In Chapter 48:17, we learn a little about his character:

"17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.”

I love this scripture. What a spiritual giant Moroni must have been. This verse always makes me reflect a little. If every person on earth today was “like unto” me, what kind of world would we live in? Or if every missionary was “like unto” me, what would the mission field look like? This way of thinking helps me to realize the things I am doing well, and also the many things I need to improve on. If every man or woman was like unto you, would the "very powers of hell” be shaken? Would the “devil never have power over the heart of the children of men”? How would this world be? 

Hasta a próxima semana! 

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey