Bolivia Bound

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