Week 43

Lately I’ve been saying how fast the weeks have been passing.  Well, I think I might have jinxed myself.  This week was a bit of a long one.  If there’s one thing that’s always though about transfers, it’s the first week.  It always takes a little bit of adjusting time to get used to a new city, area, ward, or companion.  But despite the new companion, this week was just a grind overall.  Each day the majority of our appointments fell through, and it felt like we were walking around aimlessly knocking doors for hours on end without any kind of success or interest from anyone.  It was definitely a test of our faith and patience.  You can only hear the words “estamos ocupados” (we’re busy) a certain amount of times before you start to get irritated (especially because they are almost never busy).  Sometimes I really have to bite my tongue after hearing what some people say when we knock their doors.  When people are rude or make fun of us or something, I’m always really tempted to say something rude back and defend myself or our beliefs, but I always try to think of how the Savior acted when he was laughed at, mocked, spit upon, and rejected.  As the scriptures say, every time he “held his peace”.  I marvel at all the things that Christ put up with leading up to his atonement and crucifixion.  He is the greatest example of patience and humility to ever walk this earth.  Those are definitely two attributes that I lack, and have been put to the test this week and on mission mission in general.  Hopefully I can continue to develop them as time goes on.  As tough as some of the days were this week, i’m grateful for the chance I had to develop those traits a little more. “Mosiah 3:19”

On Tuesday, we had a lesson with Pool.  We’re finishing up the lessons with him to get him ready for his baptism this week.  Pool is honestly the man.  When Elder Randall and I first started teaching him he was super shy and didn’t really talk much, but now he’s really started to open up with us.  He’s really become one of my best buds I’ve made in my mission.  We love to talk about the world cup and/or anything soccer.  He loves to tell me that Portugal is going to win it all this year and I love to tell him he’s crazy.  Obviously Germany is going back to back ;)  He’s just a Ronaldo fan boy . . . lol.  Pool is the man though.  It’s been so cool to see his progress in the gospel and his desire to do what’s right.  Hopefully everything goes as planned with his baptism this week.

On Friday, we had our last interviews with President Rasmussen before they finish their mission.  I’m super grateful for the chance I’ve had to be here in this mission at the same time as President and Sister Rasmussen.  They have made such an impact on me as a missionary and have been such great examples for everyone.  They are some of the most Christlike people I have ever met.  It’s going to be tough to see them go. :(

As most of you know, being on a mission gives you the opportunity to meet some interesting people.  This week we found a guy named Carlos who is quite the interesting fellow.  I want you to think of someone that you know who believes in conspiracy theories, ghosts, aliens, or anything like that and then times the magnitude by about 10.  That would give you Carlos.  I guarantee this guy sits and watches the TV show “Ancient Aliens” for 10 hours a day and eats everything up as absolute fact.  Honestly, I have no idea how he comes up with some of the things he talks about.  He was going off about all sorts of weird things like the illuminati, demons, aliens, and how the United States are secretly trying to take over the world.  He told us with a genuinely concerned look on his face that there are aliens that are living in the US and that they kidnap little kids and take them to Area 51 to eat them.  He also told us that there’s secret unknown powers that you can uncover from reading the Bible like mind control and stuff.  I had to do all I could to keep from laughing right in front of this guy.  It was hilarious.  I just tried to keep a straight face and nod my head listening.  The good thing is, being the type of guy he is, Carlos totally LOVED the story of Joseph Smith and the gold plates.  Everything about Joseph translating ancient plates from reformed  Egyptian to English was right up his alley.  Everything was going good until we started to talk about the two civilizations that make up the Book of Mormon.  We started to explain the Nephites and Lamanites and that’s where we kind of lost him.  When he heard “Nephites”, he got really excited and started telling us that they are some kind of alien race and are 8 feet tall giants or something.  It was super funny.  I’m excited to visit Carlos again to see what else he has in store for us.

On Saturday, we found a girl named Daniela.  When we first knocked her door, we were actually looking for her brother, who we had taught a few weeks back.  After she went looking for him and came back saying he wasn’t there, we started to talk to her and introduce ourselves as missionaries and what we do.  She knew what we were trying to do, and quickly threw up her wall of defense and said she wasn’t interested, and already has her religion.  It wasn’t until I asked her “how is your relationship with God personally?”  that she began to crack a little.  She explained to us that despite attending her Catholic church and reading her Bible, she feels like her faith in God is crumbling a little.  She feels like she doesn’t know which direction to go in life and just feels like something is missing.  When we explained and promised to her that we had a message that could change her life, she finally let us in.  We had an incredible lesson with her about the Book of Mormon. We explained how this book of scripture was written for our day and was translated by a prophet of God.  We shared of the power it has to change our lives, bring us closer to God each day, and can give our lives direction.  It was amazing to see the spirit testify to her of the truthfulness of what we were saying and to see the change it brought to her mood.  While at the beginning she was irritated and somewhat lost with her faith, by the end she was smiling, joking around with us, and feeling the spirit. She accepted to read the book and pray to know if it is true.  What a testimony builder this was for me to see the change the spirit can bring to our lives.

Today for P-day I finally was able to head back to visit my first area in Sullana!  Elder Silvano and I took a bus put to Sullana with mi pata (my boy) Elder Huarcaya and his companion Elder Kilpack.  We spent the whole day visiting the members, our converts, and our friends that live in the Obrero ward.  It was so good to see some of those people again.  I met some of my closest friends during my first 5-6 months of my mission there.  My life was honestly changed for the better for having served there and having met some of the people there.  I love Sullana and the people there so much.  Si estan leyendo esto en Sullana, les quiero mucho!!

Well that’s it for this week.  I’m so grateful for my mission and the man it is making me.  I know that this is the work of the Lord and that we are out here saving souls.  There is nothing more important than that!  The work continues . . . 

Congrats on the wedding this week Alex and Haylee!  I know the wedding wasn’t as fun without me, but I hope you all had a good day! ;)  I love and miss you guys a ton.

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey

Week 42 - Transfers

Crazy week! Well, like I said last week, we all knew that this one would probably be our last week together, and it was. :( We received transfers on Saturday night and we got the news that Elder Randall will be heading off to Tumbes! For those that don’t know, Tumbes is basically Ecuador. It’s the northern-most part of the mission and also of Peru. He’s pretty excited to start his new chapter of his mission. As sad as I am that we’re not comps anymore, I’m super grateful for the chance that we had to be partners in the Lord’s work. We made some incredible memories that we’ll never forget. It was honestly the coolest most fun time ever. But as for me, I’m staying here in good ol’ Ignacio Merino for at least another transfer. My new companion is Elder Silvano! He’s from Lima, and seems like a pretty cool guy. Despite our differences, we get along pretty well. I’m excited to work with him It should be a good transfer!

This week we worked a little more with Javier. Since our last visit, he is doing amazing. He’s reading and studying the Book of Mormon again, attended church on Sunday, and has’t had one sip of alcohol. When we had our lesson on the Word of Wisdom the week before, I had invited him to turn to Helaman 5:12 evrytime he felt the temptation to drink. He told us that he did exactly that this week and was able to overcome all his temptations! He said he loved how it talks about putting Christ as our rock in our lives so that when we experience the “storms” and “winds” and “hail” we have the power to stand strong. Javier is a living example of this classic and powerful scripture. What a testimony builder that was for me of the enabling power of the atonement, We can truly do all things through Christ!

On Thursday we had a really great lesson with the Diaz familia. We taught them the entire plan of salvation. They all understood really well and had a ton of really good questions. It was super cool to see their eyes light up when we taught them about new concepts and doctrine. The spirit was strong, and it was just a great lesson all around. It’s been so cool to see the change that the spirit has made on their family in such a short time. Also, this Sunday the entire family showed up at church! It was the coolest sight to see them all walk in. Right now we are working towards a baptismal date for the 16th of June. We’ll see how things go.

In other news, I have officially filled my official Panini Fifa World Cup 2018 sticker album! I know it sounds pretty silly to have been collecting stickers, but these World Cup albums are big news down here. Literally everyone is collecting these things right now. Basically, what it is, is a blank book with a page for every team that qualified for the 2018 World Cup. With each team you have a little place to put each player. The hard part is, the only way to get the individual players is to buy little packs of 5 random stickers. So, after a lots of looking, trading, and sorting, I’m proud to announce that I have filled my album. I probably put way too much time and effort (and money, haha) into it, but me and Elder Randall had a blast doing it. It’s pretty sick to be here in a soccer culture for this World Cup. Especially when Peru hasn’t gone in almost 40 years.

On Friday, we had a special conference with Elder Godoy from the Presidency of the Seventy. It was held in the mission home, and only the district and zone leaders were invited to it. He asked to all us leaders of the mission about the new mission president change in July. He told us how the Peru Piura mission is having a ton of success right now, and that when this mission president change happens, the future of the mission will rest on our (the leaders) shoulders. It was a super cool meeting and I learned a ton. Elder Godoy is the man.

On Saturday, we had a “last supper” with Kevin and Guadalupe. We are turning them over to the missionaries in the Algarrobos ward. We taught and baptized them in our ward because they had been attending church here with their Uncle Jimmy. We finally got to try Cuy! (guinea pig) I had heard a lot before my mission about eating cuy, but until now I had never tried it. It actually wasn’t too bad. It just tasted like some chewier chicken, haha. I don’t really get why they eat it though; it barely has any meat on it. Kinda funny though. Apart from the cuy, Kevin and Guadalupe are THE best. They are some of the coolest converts I’ve had. When me and Elder Randall were leaving, they gave us two sick Peru jerseys as goodbye gifts. They seriously are some of my favorite people I know.

I want to give a mother’s day shoutout to the best and most beautiful mother in the world. Thank you so much mom for all your love, support, and great example for all of us. Thanks for always being my best friend. I can’t wait until the day that I can give you a big hug. I love you so much! 

Hasta la próxima semana,

Elder Bailey

Alanza Su Verdad!

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” - Abraham Lincoln

Week 41

Hey what’s goin on? 

I can’t believe how fast the weeks have been passing! I feel like this week was just a blur. Things are going good here in our area. Slowly but surely we are starting to see some changes. Just got to keep relying on the Lord.

Tuesday afternoon we did our usual “grind hour”, which is knocking doors after lunch during the hottest part of the day when the sun just beats on you. After only knocking about 2 or 3 doors, an older guy named Luis invited us in to talk. From the looks of him, he didn’t really seem to me like someone who would accept. I was super tired, too, and had to fight to keep my eyes open when Elder Randall was teaching. However, at the end of the lessonLuis started to show some signs that he was actually listening and interested. Then he said something that caught me off guard. After a quiet pause he said, “I’m going to read your book and pray about it. If I get an answer from God I want to be baptized!” Me and Elder Randall both looked at each other and smiled. It was super cool to see someone who really took our challenge to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it seriously. He accepted to be baptized on June 6th if he receives an answer. Hopefully he comes through and does his part to find one.

Tuesday night we had a lesson with the Facundo family. I don’t know if you remember, but a few months back we baptized a little 11 year old girl named Duani. Well, Duani is part of the Facundo family, which consists of the mom, Maritza, and her seven kids. All of them are baptized members of the church, but have been pretty inactive until Duani as baptized a few months ago. Lately, we have been teaching Duani as one of our recent converts, but now we’ve switched our attention to strengthening the whole family. Despite being members, the mom and some of her kids have some big doubts about the church. On Tuesday we really didn’t even teach them a lesson. It was more of a big Q and A. We were there for over an hour answering all their questions and doubts. We talked about everything ranging from prophets and apostles to commandments, agency, and the atonement. It was pretty crazy, but I think it was really good for them. At the end, we all came to the conclusion that they need to strengthen their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. We explained to them how it truly answers all the questions of the soul, and can help them with all of their doubts. They accepted our challenge to read one chapter from the Book of Mormon each day, and to continually pray to see if it is true.

On Thursday we got invited by the Jibaja family to a “niche de hogar”, or family home evening. If there is one area where the church is actually stronger here in Peru, it would definitely be in their family home evenings. It seems to me like everyone here really puts a big emphasis in having one every Monday. I really feel like that is something that can be strengthened in our wards and stakes back home. Anyways, we shoed up to their house on Thursday night, and the Jibaja family had invited some of their non-member friends also. Everything turned out super awesome. The lesson that Jonny (the dad) gave was on how the family can be together forever. We watched one of those super cheesy church movies from the 80’s but it was actually really good. The topic was really good for this family of non-members, as they had lost an 8 year-old child to cancer a few years back. They seemed to be really touched by the message. After the lesson, we played a bunch of games, ate pizza and pollo a la brasa, and had a good time. It was really cool to see how powerful and effective member missionary work can be. The Jibaja family are great examples of going outside yourself to invite others to come unto Christ. 

This week we worked closely with the Diaz family. It’s always a HUGE test of patience with them, as it's almost impossible to sit the whole fam down and teach a lesson. However, we finally were able to start teaching the Dad, Enrique, and he has shown some genuine interest. We watched a few mormon messages with him about finding God in our lives and how the gospel can strengthen our families and our marriages. He expressed to us his desire to change his life and create a stronger bond with his family. We shared with him the power of the atonement, and the real joy and happiness that the gospel brings through faith, repentance, and baptism. We invited him to be baptized, but he told us that he wants to learn a little bit more first. Our goal is to start with Enrique, the head of the house, and hopefully the rest of the family will follow. We’ll see what happens.

On Saturday we were finally able to sit down and have a talk with Javier. Everything went great! We were able to fully teach him the word of wisdom, and also about repentance. We read the entire chapter of Alma 36 with him, which is where Alma shares his conversion story with his son, Helaman. We shared with him how we can always come back to the Lord and we will be supported with our trials and afflictions. In verse 27 it says, “And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.” We told him how if he puts his trust in the Lord and comes unto him, the Lord will lift him up and help him with his personal struggles. Javier committed to live the word of wisdom, and we established a new baptismal date for the 19th of May. I’m so glad the Lord has been able to keep him in our hands. He is the man.

To end, I just want to share one of my favorite scriptures of all time that I have been thinking about and sharing a lot lately. It’s found in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”. I just love that. Like I have mentioned before, I have met thousands of people here on my mission who, when I ask them if they have faith in Christ, they say yes but they do absolutely nothing to show their faith. As we see in the following chapter, “For as the body without the spirit is dead,  so faith without works is dead also.” To be true followers of Christ, we always need to show our faith through our works, which is righteously keeping his commandments and living his gospel. We cannot receive salvation by our faith alone. My challenge to us is that we can all be “doers” of the word of Christ, not just “hearers”. 

Well kids, that’s about it for this week. Everything is going good here en el Norte. The sad thing is, it’s looking like this could be my last week with Elder Randall. :( I guess all good things must come to an end. We’re for sure going to make the most of this last week together. The work continues…

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey

*Interesting note: There is a pack of about 5-6 dogs that follow us around every day. Not really sure why. We’ve become a little gang. Guess they want to share this message too. 

Week 40

Hey!

So I don’t have a ton of time today, so this is just going to be a quick update.

This week we finally found our guy Alison.  A few weeks ago, he came up to us one day when we were passing by his house and he wanted us to come visit him.  When we went to visit him, we taught him the restoration and the Book of Mormon.  He was super interested and said he would read the book.  However, we tried for about two and a half weeks to visit him but we couldn’t ever find him.  On Friday, we decided we would try one more time to find him in his house.  I was fed up with him for not following through with our appointments, and was ready to drop him.  When we got to his house, he was actually there.  He told us he had read the Book of Mormon and knew it was legit.  He told us that he felt it was all true.  It was awesome. He accepted a baptismal date for the 26th of May.  I am so glad we tried one more time to visit him.  Alison is the man.  He is definitely someone who has been prepared to hear the gospel.

Remember Javier from last week?  Well the story isn’t over yet.  So on Thursday, we were heading from one appointment to another, when we quickly passed by Javier’s house.  As we passed by, we heard a familiar voice yell, “Elders!“.  We stopped for a second and walked back to his house.  A few seconds later, a tired-looking Javier hobbled out from his house.  As he got closer and started to talk to us, we could clearly tell he was drunk.  It was super sad to see.  Turns out that the week before, one of his buddies offered him just “una cervesita” or “one little beer.”  Before that, he hadn’t had any kind of alcohol in over a year.  I guess he figured that “one little beer” wouldn’t hurt (we hadn’t gotten around to teaching the Word of Wisdom) and one thing led to another and he got super drunk.  Now he’s been drinking again.  He told us that he felt so unworthy to talk to us that he wouldn’t come to the door when we’d knock, and even told his sister to tell us he was going back to Venezuela.  He told us that he feels super bad, but wants to start things over again.  We told him that we are here to help him, and that through Christ, all things are possible.  We set an appointment to visit him on Tuesday.  We will see how things go.  It was really tough to find him like that and to hear what happened but now I feel he is moving in the right direction after talking to us.

Well I have to go!  Sorry for the short letter.  I’ll try to do better next week. Love you all. The work continues.

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey  #TakeNote

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

- Thomas Jefferson