Unidad es la Fuerza!

October 28, 2013

Hello everyone! My title for the day, and my new theme for the mission, is "unidad es la fuerza," or "unity is strength." First off, because it’s the slogan of Bolivia and is on all the Bolivian money. :) Second, because, as I’m learning in a big way, ward unity is the key to success in the mission. We’ve had a huge emphasis in our meetings and mission conferences on unity with the ward council to not only baptize, but retain the people we baptize and also rescue menos activos. So, Hermana Lopez and I have been putting that in practice here in Braniff. We had ward council this week and were super excited to see the beginning of a shift in our ward leadership... a shift from focusing exclusively on activities in ward council, with minimal collaboration, to focusing on people, on families that need this gospel, and collaboration on how we can help them among the different organizations and the missionaries. As missionaries, we’re only going to be in a ward for, at the most, maybe six months. But the ward members are going to stay, and they have to be intimately involved in missionary efforts if they want to see their ward grow and change.

And to do that here in Braniff, we’re following the revelation that our mission president received, to serve ward leadership, especially the bishopric. We had a family night with the first councilor in the bishopric and he thanked us profusely for taking time for him and his family, to strengthen them with a spiritual thought. We also decided that we’re going to visit the bishop this week to clean his house because his wife is sick. Finally, Presidente Willard told all the missionaries that something he has been thinking about a lot is that the missionaries should help clean the chapels. The culture here doesn’t put much emphasis on cleanliness, so the chapels are almost always super dirty, and Presidente Willard said that although it may seem like a little thing, he feels that if we as missionaries take the time to clean the chapels, it will have a big impact on gaining the confidence of the bishops and ward members, and will invite the Spirit as we serve and show respect for the house of the Lord. And as we know from the scriptures, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass! So this week, Hermana Lopez and I told the bishop that we would always be there with him to clean the chapel, every week without fail, because usually it is only him and two other leaders that clean everything every week. Well, it was incredible to see his reaction. Our bishop has historically been a little distant, especially from the mission efforts, but his manner changed immediately when we said we would be there to support him in cleaning. He immediately started to talk to us with more confidence and more enthusiasm for our work. Wow! Presidente Willard really does receive revelation from God, and surely small things have huge impacts.

We’re preparing for our baptism with Marcos and Nahuel this Friday, and the following Saturday, with Monica and Naneth. We’re still working with lots of less-actives and conversos recientes, as well as our investigators. We’re a little disappointed with our family, Marcela and her children that accepted baptism dates. Her children really like church and like the scriptures. They have gone to church twice, but Marcela doesn’t want to take the time to go to church because she works Sundays. It’s great that her kids want to go to church, but they need their mom! We’re praying that we can help her see the importance of going to church so that she can get baptized with her children.

Hermana Lopez is fantastic, best companion ever. I’m learning a ton about patience and about how to really communicate openly from being her "mama en la mision." And Dad, to respond to your question, Spanish is coming along well. I’m far from perfect, but I’ve actually gotten lots of comments this past week from ward members about how much my Spanish has changed, how they can actually understand me these days, ha. And Hermana Lopez is helping me a lot with minor corrections to more fully perfect my Spanish, as I’m helping her to learn English.


Missions are the best! As always!

Love you all,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk


Por fin, I’m sending everyone pictures. These pictures are from our zone activity last Monday. We went to a national park type thing in Santa Cruz called Lomos de Arena. Wow, was that an adventure. We went in a bus for like 45 minutes, finally arrived, where we had to cross a river that went up past our knees (the first photo).

Then, we walked about 45 minutes through a forest-type area, where I discovered my dream house (second photo). Hermana Lopez and I decided we’re going to live there together someday and preach to the pigs and cows and other animals in this forest. There were a lot of animals.

Finally, after walking like forever, we arrived at these HUGE sand dunes that we got to climb up! How weird, right? Forest to sand dunes, but it’s true.








So we partied a little on the sand dunes with our zone, and then it started to rain. And when I say rain, it started to POUR, with thunder and lightning and all that. But we had no other option but to walk back, in the sand and mud, in the rain, for another 45 minutes or so. Without lunch. AND with Hermana Lopez with an injured foot. Quite the adventure, ha. But definitely worth it. :)

MISSIONS!!!!!

October 21, 2013

Well, basically I love the mission. Every week in the mission is fantastic, and this week was no exception! Hermana Lopez and I are still working together great! She’s super fun, learning really fast, and I’m learning a bunch from her as well. As a trainer, I’m also much more painfully aware of my weaknesses and my sometimes less-than-Christ like attributes. Maybe that doesn’t sound too fun, but I’m super grateful for the opportunity because I know that the Lord gives us challenges to help us learn to be more like Him. I’m learning to be a lot more humble, apologize more, and I’m doing a whole lot more repenting every day and striving always to be closer to the Savior.

We are super happy here in Braniff because the work is picking up like crazy! We have this miracle family in our ward, la familia Aillon. They have decided to take it upon themselves to be the missionary family of the ward, and it’s incredible. First, they have a grandson, Marcos, that isn’t baptized, so he’s going to get baptized either the 30th or the 2nd, depending on when the person that’s going to baptize him can come. Then, they have a daughter, Carla, that decided she wants to serve a mission and has started accompanying us to lessons all the time - fantastic. Then, they gave us referencias for two families and a teenager of 14 years, AND had a family night in their house with all these people and more. Awesome!!! So we visited their referencias this week, and one of the families, a single mom, Marcela, and two of her three children (the third is 7 years old), accepted baptism dates for the 16th of November! Also, the 14 year old, Nahuel, accepted a baptism date as well! We’re totally stoked, and we totally love the familia Aillon. Members rock!!!

We also have good news with Monica and Naneth. They have decided that they DEFINITELY want to get baptized. Unfortunately, they haven’t had time to meet with us a whole lot this past week, so we haven’t been able to teach all the lessons and they have to wait until the 9th to get baptized with Fabiola. But no worries, we’re super excited for the 9th. Monica and Naneth are incredible, and I love seeing that they have hope for the future now. Their dad died when they were young, and it was a joy yesterday to explain the Plan of Salvation. Now they know that they can be an eternal family, and they’re super happy. I love the miracles of the mission.

Soledad, unfortunately, isn’t going to get baptized, at least for now. We’re praying that someday, she will be ready to accept this gospel. Fabiola, however, is progressing toward her baptism! She has accepted the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. We now just have to help her really understand the importance of going to church, because she has only gone to church once so far.

Finally, we’re still working with menos activos and conversos recientes! It’s always a great feeling when we see someone who hasn’t been to church in a long time show up at the chapel. We were especially happy yesterday to see one sister, Raquel. She and her husband are members, but her husband is active while she isn’t. Her husband, Jorge, brings their four children to church every Sunday, and it’s hard for him to have that kind of responsibility, along with his calling, every Sunday. Also, their oldest son, Abacuc, isn’t baptized because he’s afraid of water. So, we’ve been working with the whole family to strengthen them. Sometimes we have family nights to strengthen everyone, sometimes we visit with just Raquel, and sometimes we visit with Abacuc to teach him the missionary lessons and help him prepare for a baptism. Little by little, we’re working to change this whole family, and we were thrilled yesterday because Raquel came to church! She changed her work schedule to have Sunday as her free day. Woo! This is the first step to getting her active, getting Abacuc baptized, and getting this family sealed in the temple, and I’m stoked.

Missions rock!!!!!!! If you’re thinking about serving but aren’t sure, do it. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make. Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Chelsie Faulk

To The Rescue!!!!

October 13, 2013

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!

First off, big news... I have my hija! Yep that’s right, this past week we had cambios and I’m now training a nuevita, Hermana Lopez. It was sort of funny, we have this 12-week training program called "12 Semanas" and I finished it with Hermana Maldonado (my previous companion, who was also my trainer), Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon, I went to meet Hermana Lopez. She is great. She’s from Peru, 23 years old, and we get along really well! She’s super fun and already does great in lessons, which is fantastic. I often forget that I’m training because she seems so prepared, ha. And the other great news is that we stayed in my same area, Braniff. :) I thought I was going to have to leave because I was there for three months already, and we all thought, including my zone leaders, that I was going to leave and Hermana Maldonado and Hermana Johns were going to stay, so I took photos with a few of our investigators and the Relief Society President, and I was pretty sad to go. But then, miracle of miracles, our leaders called and said that I get to stay!! Whoo, six months (probably) in Braniff! The ward is tiny, but I have grown to love the members, the menos activos, and the investigators here. I’m super grateful that the Lord blessed me to be able to stay here.

We also had an incredible meeting yesterday, with all the missionaries in Santa Cruz, including Santa Cruz Norte. (Which meant we got to leave the MISSION for the first and only time - awesome!) But this meeting wasn’t only with the missionaries... it was also with all of the ward councils for all the wards, and the meeting was about how as a ward council and as full-time missionaries, we are going to work together in the work of salvation. The meeting was led by Elder C. Scott Grow (who I have always wanted to meet because of his name, ha) and it was incredible. The focus of the missions here is changing completely. We, as a ward council, are going to work together to bring salvation not only to investigators, but also to menos activos and conversos recientes. We are going to RESCUE our brothers and sisters who have previously accepted the gospel and have left it, for one reason or another, and I am STOKED. (Thus, the subject line, which also happens to be the title of President Monson’s biography, which I read before leaving for the mission, which is incredible. Read it!) So this is a call to all of you reading this... as active members of the church, it is our responsibility to go to the rescue of our less-active brothers and sisters. They left the church for a reason, but what I’ve learned here with the less-actives we’ve worked with is that the majority of them want to return. They just need the help, love, and acceptance, of active members. So... help them. :)

Some other good news... Fabiola and her children went to church yesterday! She accepted a new baptism date, for the 9th of November (happy birthday Mom!) and really seemed to like church. Also, her children loved church, including her special-needs son, so I’m thrilled. We were pretty preoccupied because we were having a hard time finding a member to accompany us to Fabiola, who desperately needed friends in the church to have the confidence to go with her special-needs son, but after praying a lot, the name of one of the members came to mind. This member, Cinthia, has started to go with us when we visit Fabiola and has really taken Fabiola under her wing as a constant friend in the church. Friends in the church are essential for investigators. Please, along with rescuing menos activos, be a friend to the investigators. It makes ALL the difference.

Soledad, Naneth, and Monica are also progressing toward their baptism dates the 26th. The three of them want to be baptized, but are pretty nervous about doing it so soon. We’re praying that we’ll be able to help them feel prepared for the 26th, but if not, then a few weeks after. But that’s okay, because what I’m learning is that I can’t drag people to a baptism date just because I want a baptism for October. The important thing is that they experience the change of heart necessary to be baptized and that they do so in the Lord’s time. But we’re praying for them!

I love this work. There’s nowhere else I would rather be than here in the mission. I know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that He is hastening the work of the salvation of his children. It is a privilege to be a part of it. Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Chelsie Faulk

CONFERENCE…exclamation point!

October 8, 2013
Wow, I just have to start off by saying that this was a fantastic week. We had some disappointments and hard times, as always, but overall, this week was wonderful for many reasons, the biggest of which was GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Conference was fantastic, both for me and for our investigators.  Also, we, the Americans, had the blessing of being able to watch three of the four sessions in English. That was fun, like a mini English party for three sessions in our own little private room, ha. I was super grateful for that, because although I can understand Spanish pretty well, in the one session we had to watch in Spanish, I sometimes had to focus so much on understanding the words that I missed some of the Spirit. But that’s okay, I loved it all anyway. I loved all of the talks of course, but especially the talk by Ulisses Soares, and by Edward Dube, and Richard J. Maynes, all of which focused on more complete conversion and optimism in the face of trials. I also loved the emphasis on the importance of families and the role of women as we’re trying to work with and strengthen investigator, part-member, and less-active families. And, of course, I was loving the emphasis on missionary work! exclamation point! :) Totally in love with S. Gifford Nielson’s enthusiasm, yeah? Also, loved the talk by President Uchtdorf. SO perfect for so many of our investigators and especially for SO many less-active members. "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." So profound for everyone, no matter at what stage of conversion you’re in.

We have the blessing of having the stake center in our area, so we could easily bring investigators to conference, and we did just that, for every session of conference. This made conference an excellent opportunity for investigators to receive personal revelation, and we saw the miracles. Miracle number 1: after a week of not being able to get in contact with a very discouraged Hugo who, it appeared, did NOT want to talk to us anymore, he showed up out of nowhere at the Saturday afternoon session of conference! I still have no idea how he learned that we had conference, but we had a lesson with him immediately afterwards, and he has really made a firm decision to change and keep the commandments. However, he’s afraid to commit to another baptism date because he’s afraid of messing up again. We’re praying for him, that we can find a way to help him have the confidence to act.
Miracle number 2:We had two investigators, sisters, accept a baptism date this week for the 26th of October. But, they said that they would get baptized only if they felt like they received a strong answer from God. We invited them to conference and they agreed to come. I was sitting next to them during the Sunday morning session (the only one where I had to watch in Spanish, and boy am I glad I was in the same room with them for this miracle moment). They were listening with some interest to the talks, but didn’t seem especially fascinated. Then, it was time for President Monson to talk. I leaned over and whispered to the, "The man who’s about to talk is the living prophet of God on the earth, like how we explained with Joseph Smith. He talks to God the same way Moses and Abraham talked to God." They immediately got super focused and listened super attentively the whole time, then during the song, they started whispering to each other. At the end of the conference, I asked them how the felt. Monica and Naneth both said, "He was talking directly to us." and Naneth explained, "We could feel something different when he started talking. Something strange... it was as though God was talking straight to us." Wow, I could feel the Spirit so strong in that moment and I explained to them that this was the Holy Ghost testifying to them of the truthfulness of our message, that President Monson really is a prophet, and that this is his church. Wow, such a sweet experience. I’m so happy for them.

Okay, I feel like this email is SUPER long, but one more story, this one a little crazy. We have this investigator, Veronica, who has been an investigator for basically forever. She wants to get baptized, but has to get married first and had a huge problem getting some papers together so that she can get married. Finally, we set a marriage date for the 25th and a baptism date for the 26th. She came to three of the four sessions of conference, but after the first one, we were leaving the chapel when a man walked up to us and said to Veronica, "I know you. You’re a member of the church!" We explained that no, although she has come to church faithfully for like six months, she’s not a member. He said, "No no no, I know you. You were baptized when you were 12 years old, here in Braniff when it was a branch. I know because I was branch president." He then congratulated us on reactivating her, and walked away. The most bizarre moment ever. Turns out, Veronica was in a severe accident where she injured her head like 8 years ago and has some severe memory loss. She remembers going to church sometimes when she was young, but didn’t know that she was baptized. Pretty bizarre, yeah? So now we have to search for her baptism papers, because they should be here in Braniff somewhere. Pretty wild. Also, we have no idea who that man was, since he appeared out of nowhere and didn’t say his name, then promptly disappeared. One of the three Nephites, anyone? ;) Ha, the mission is wild.

Anyway, I love you all and I love this gospel and I love my mission and I love the Lord and the miracles he provides! This work is His work and this church is His church, and He will bless us for all of our service in it. Missionary work... exclamation point!!!! :)

Love,Hermana Chelsie Faulk

TRIO!!!

Happy Monday everyone! That’s right, you read the subject line right... I am now officially in trio! It’s kind of a crazy situation. Hermana Johns, our new companion, arrived fresh from the Colombia CCM on Tuesday. She is from Utah, but her Spanish is pretty good so they sent her from the CCM two weeks early! So now, Hermana Maldonado, who was still training me, is now training both me and Hermana Johns. But since I’m basically done with my training and getting ready to train in a week and a half, it’s kind of this weird halfway thing, where sometimes it’s like Hermana Maldonado has her two daughters, and sometimes it’s like Hermana Johns has her two moms. We’re never quite sure, ha. But we get along great, the three of us, and although it’s definitely been a challenge to figure out how to teach with three people, I’m loving this opportunity to learn a lot and to see an example of how to train from the beginning, as Hermana Maldonado trains Hermana Johns. I’m definitely taking mental notes to apply to when I have to train.

Anyway, this week we had a few disappointments, the major disappointment being that Monday night last week, Hugo told us that he broke the Word of Wisdom, and with that, he lost his baptism date. We are working with him to help him understand the true meaning of repentance and why it’s important to completely abandon your sins, but he is having a hard time. We’re hopeful, however, that he will be able to give up drinking completely and get baptized. In this way, it’s been a tough month. Four people accepted baptism dates for September, and all four fell through for different reasons. Ouch. But what I’m learning in a big way, and this is something that has never been easy for me, is that all I can do as a missionary is invite people to make changes in their lives, and help them make those changes. I can never obligate people to do so, as much as I would like to, ha. The good news, however, is that a lot of those people whose baptism dates fell through in September, I believe will be ready for baptism in October. I don’t know if I’ll be here in Braniff to see them get baptized, but I’m confident that it will happen, with Hugo and with Soledad as well.

The other good news is that we’re working with a lot of new people! One person, Fabiola, is really fantastic. I don’t remember if I wrote about her last week, but she has three children, one of whom has some kind of developmental disability, and I love her and her family. And she accepted a baptism date! Her date is the 26th of October and I’m way excited for her. Also, we’re working with two sisters, Monica and Naneth. They are both super great. We contacted Monica in the street and she and Naneth came to church last week after just a contact, without a lesson. We taught Naneth during the week about the Restoration (we wanted to teach Monica too, but she traveled) but Naneth was super interested, both of them came to church yesterday again, and said that they’ve been ready their pamphlet (which almost never happens, ha) and that they have questions for us and want to keep coming to church! I’m praying that they, too, will accept baptism dates for October. :)

Anyway, so that’s my big news for the week! And Dad, I’m definitely loving your advice to get sick in every new zone as a way to make more friends. Definitely going to take it, ha.

Love you all!

Hermana Chelsie Faulk