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

Week 53

Hey y’all!

This week the missionaries were put in charge of hosting a “capilla abierta” or “open chapel” in our little ward building here in La Cruz. A little ways back, the Area Presidency here in the South America Northwest Area established these church open houses with the goal of getting more people (non-members, investigators, less-actives, etc.) out to see and learn more about the church and what we believe. The open house basically consists of 10-15 minute tours of the church which start in the chapel with learning about the sacrament, and then progressively move throughout the rest of the building to learn more about different topics like baptism, family history and temples, and also all the organizations within the church like Young Mens/Womens, Priesthood, and the Relief Society. It’s a really great idea for missionary work, and when we did one while I was in Sullana it was super successful. However when we heard that we were going to host one in our little building, we were a little nervous. Considering the ward activities we had tried to plan in the past, we didn’t have a whole lot of faith that our ward was going to come together to help us plan and pull this thing off. Luckily, our prayers were answered and the majority of the leaders from each organization showed up to help Thursday afternoon! We also got help from the rest of the missionaries in the zone to help everything go smoothly. Me and Elder Randall changed in to the famous white clothes to run the station that teaches about baptism. It was fun to teach with him again and to relive our glory days of being companions in Piura. Although overall we didn’t get a whole lot of visitors for the tours, the open house went a lot better then expected, and I think it was good for strengthening the leaders and members of our ward. Definitely a miracle!

This week we decided we decided to get a little more creative in getting references and finding new people to teach by inviting everyone to an english class that we had Friday night in the church. Everyone around here absolutely loves to learn anything English, so a lot of people were actually pretty interested in coming. We had a pretty good turnout of about 10-15 people who showed up ready to learn. taught the basics of how to introduce yourself, say where your from, etc. It was super funny to try to teach them the pronunciation of words over and over and over again, and they just couldn’t hack it. It made me think of my first days in the CCM over a year ago when I literally could not say or understand a thing in Spanish. I think of how far I have come since then and it blows my mind. The gift of tongues is real!

On Saturday while knocking doors, we found the sweetest old lady you could ever imagine named Teodosa. Teodosa is 85 years old and lives all by herself. We sat with her for more than an hour as she explained to us her whole life story. She told us about how much she loved her husband, and how over their 50+ years of marriage they never fought and always stuck together. She then broke down in tears telling us about how she has lost 3 of her 4 kids: one to cancer, one to a brain tumor, and the other had been killed in a car accident. She also told us that her last son is in prison right now on false charges. So, Teodosa literally has no one to help her. She has little money, and can barely get around the house. As we sat and talked with her, I kept thinking how I was sure that I had never found anyone as “poor in spirit” as this humble lady. We shared with her God’s plan for us, and then I had a strong impression to give her a priesthood blessing. As I put my hands on her head the spirit was so strong and I felt that through the blessing, the Lord was able to tell Teodosa the comforting words that she needed to hear. As we left, tears rolled down her face as she thanked us for our visit. I’m so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and the blessings it brings into our lives. I’m also grateful that the Lord was able to guide us to one of his children that was in need of help that day. 

On Thursday I hit my year mark! I really can’t believe I’ve been out on my mission for a year. Somehow it feels likes like such a short time I’ve been gone but at the same time an eternity. Despite being one of the hardest and most challenging things I’ve ever done, being on this mission is the best decision I’ve ever made for my life. I look back on this last year and think of the people I have met, miracles I’ve seen, challenges I’ve overcome, and the man I am becoming. It’s truly amazing and I’ll always be grateful for my mission and the things I’m learning here. I’m now starting the third quarter, which they say is always the most crucial of the game. ;) It shapes the outcome of the rest of the ball game…

My thought this week is one of my favs in all of the Book of Mormon. Here is Alma teaching his son, Helaman, and comparing the Liahona to the words of Christ:

38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director—or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did nottravel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

Let us not be slothful! Follow the words of Christ.

Avanza su verdad!

Elder Bailey

Week 52

¿Qué tal amigos?

This week we finally got to meet President and Hermana Vega. On Wednesday we had a conference with all of the Zona Tumbes where we got some training from both President and Hermana Vega. They are definitely a change from Pres. and Hermana Rasmussen, but I really like them. They’re very by-the-book and are going to bring a lot of good change to the mish. Hermana Vega is all about living clean and eating healthy, and has been roasting the mission on how we have been living. I’m definitely a fan of eating healthy and living clean so I can’t complain on that change. One thing I really like about them is that they are fully-invested in their calling. During a little get-to-know-you interview with Hermana Vega, she explained to me and Elder Anticona how her and President Vega have sold their home, basically all their possessions, and have left their jobs and their family and friends to come here to serve the Lord for 3 years. Us missionaries obviously sacrifice things to be here as well, but it seemed to me as if they had left a lot behind in Colombia. It reminds me of the Book of Mormon; When the Lord called, “he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, [and] he did as the Lord commanded him.” What great examples. It really makes me question: what am I willing to give up to be obedient to the word of the Lord? 

Speaking of sacrifices, after our district meeting in Tumbes on Saturday we came across a small Venezuelan family consisting of a mom and two young boys selling candles in the plaza. They stopped us to ask where the nearest church building was. After giving them the direction to the nearest church, we started to ask them where they were from and what they were doing in Perú. The mom told us that just a little bit ago, they fled from Venezuela on foot to escape from all of the problems happening there. She said that they had walked for 6 days towards Perú, until a small bus offered to pick them up. They had left everything they owned in Venezuela with hopes of finding a better life somewhere else. What touched me the most out of their incredible story, was that despite being converts of only 4 months, and despite the limited number of items they could bring with them on their journey, they had carried with them a backpack that was filled with a Bible, triple (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price), Liahona magazines, and their limited-use recommends for the temple.  It was amazing to see such a humble family and that wherever they went, they wanted to make sure that they had the word of God with them.

Well I shouldn’t have joked about the freezing cold showers a few weeks ago, because now I would love to go back to showering at all, cold water or not. Like Elder Randall has mentioned in some of his emails, the water up here in the Tumbes region comes and goes like the wind. One day we have it, the next day we don’t. Unfortunately, the water this week decided to disappear, so this week we had the fun experience of taking bucket showers with the little drinking water we have. A bucket shower is better than nothing. But it's almost impossible to feel like you’re actually clean, especially when we have such little water to shower with. Hopefully we’ll get water soon! Moral of the story: Never take for granted your warm, running-water showers if you have them! The mission is an adventure :)

This past week we have been teaching three different young girls who are all going to be baptized on the 4th of August. Two of them, Lucero and Yemeli (both age 11), are kids of non-member parents who attend church and want to be baptized but aren’t married. The other, Lucilia (age 9), is part of an active member family who slacked off a little and never had their daughter baptized when she was 8. So we get to count her as a convert baptism for the missionaries, haha. They are all super young but for that reason I absolutely love teaching them. They understand lessons and doctrine so easily while adults with much more experience and education seem to struggle understanding sometimes. Little kids have their hearts and their minds open and are ready to be taught by the spirit. Hopefully everything will go well and we’ll have 3 baptisms on the 4th. Ojalá!

Auanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey

Week 51

BREAKING NEWS: I got to wear a sweater! After almost a year of being up here in the heat of Northern Peru, we finally had a day that I thought was cool enough to throw on a sweater as we went about our day. Being right on the coast here in La Cruz means sometimes we get a cool ocean breeze that rolls in. It’s great. The occasion of wearing a sweater was so rare that I had to stop and snag a pic with it for you guys.

The work here in our area is moving forward! Right now we are working closely with a handful of people who are genuinely interested in the gospel and are attending church. A few weeks ago we started teaching a 15-year old stud named Arni, who we found outside his house one day fighting his beloved pet chicken against his friend’s chicken. We stopped to watch the fight and then after we were able to sit them down and teach them. Arni liked the message, and so we’ve been teaching him for a few weeks now. We are also teaching a young couple named Carlos and Mercy. They have been receiving the missionaries for quite some time now, and the only thing that is keeping them from being baptized is that they aren’t married and are living together. That’s definitely the big challenge with everyone here. When you knock a door and teach a family, you can just automatically assume that they are not married. It’s a little frustrating sometimes. I’ve yet to find a couple here (that aren’t members of the church) that have been married. So, right now they have plans to get married on the 28th of July, and to be baptized on August 4th. Hopefully everything will go as planned! We are definitely being showered with blessings from the Lord right now. We are finding lots of new families to teach, and things are looking good. The work is great here.

As good as the investigators are coming along, we are still struggling a little bit in the strength of the ward. This Sunday we took a huge hit in our overall church attendance as a ward, maybe due to the fact that the World Cup final was right during our sacrament meeting. Each week the bishop tries to hold ward council, but all the leaders of the ward bounce out of there after the 3-hour block. It’s a little frustrating and a test of patience, especially when we want to ask for support from the members for our investigators. We are going to start visiting the members a little more during this week to help strengthen them. In thinking about trying to strengthen our tiny ward here, I think of how hard it must have been for the prophet Joseph Smith and his colleagues to newly establish Christ’s church in the year 1830 with only 6 members. It’s nothing short of a miracle and evidence of the truthfulness of the gospel that it was able to grow and expand from 6 members in 1830 to millions of members in hundreds of countries today, in such a short amount of time. It truly is a marvelous work that is unfolding and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. 

For P-day today, we headed up to Tumbes to play a zone vs. zone soccer match on a full-sized field. It was super fun to get out and play on a huge field, rather then the little concrete courts that we’re all accustomed to here in the mission. Let’s just say that me and Elder Randall are quite the dynamic duo for zone Tumbes, and that you can save us a spot on the US national team when we get home. ;)

Well that’s the quick update for this week. Like I always say, I’m grateful for the chance I have to be out here serving the Lord at this time. Although it’s hard work, and things don’t always go as planned, it’s always so rewarding. I absolutely love representing the two best names in the world on my chest: the name of my savior Jesus Christ and my family name of Bailey. What a blessing!

Avanza Su Verdad!

Elder Bailey