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