Bolivia Bound

Trust in the Lord

April 21, 2014

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend and remembered the purpose of Easter, the atonement and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well Hermana Ence and I started off this week with a conferencia de zona with Presidente Willard. It was fantastic, and I was grateful to learn a lot about a few themes I have been considering a lot, like the purpose of my time here in Tarija if we are struggling SO much to find people to teach who seem to really want to progress. As I have thought a lot about it, Hermana Ence and I have come to the conclusion that instead of spending hours looking for people fruitlessly and not seeing results, we need to do something different: we need to strive to unite more with the ward to respond to the ward's needs. The bishop, for example, has commented many times about his concerns about ward unity and the lack of activities, and we have also heard that even when the different organizations have activities, very few people attend. So, Hermana Ence and I felt like we should ask the bishop if we could help him by organizing an activity of the obra misional, something we could invite investigators and menos activos to and that also would help the ward with unity. He got excited about that and thanked us profusely. We felt that he started to trust in us more because after that, he commented to us that he wants us to visit a few menos activo families that live in the area of the elders, but that the elders haven't been visiting because they're just too occupied, and said he would also assign us to a few investigators in the elder's area that he wants us to visit. Our purpose is not to abandon our area, but we are excited to help in the way the bishop wants us to help in this ward, with this ward's specific needs. We have also been seeing a little more success with the menos activos this week as we encountered a new menos activo family from Santa Cruz and were able to schedule a lesson with an hermana from a less active family that never wanted to receive us before. We are trying to work with visiting teaching and working hard to help the members form friendships so that they will continue going to church even when we aren't here.

As for progress with investigators, it was a pretty disappointing day yesterday when out of the many investigators who had committed to go to church, no one made it. I was pretty disappointed, but I am working on just trusting in the Lord's timing and the Lord's plans. I know that the ideas we're having to support the ward and help the menos activos is something we wouldn't be able to do if we were really occupied with investigators, so maybe that's the Lord's purpose. I also know that He IS preparing people to hear our message - we taught a husband and wife yesterday that seem legitamitely interested in learning more, so we're excited for them. Finally, I feel strongly that the Lord is giving me these types of experiences because I have to learn patience with circumstances that are out of my control. I have to learn this patience and continual trust in God now, because these are the essential lessons I need to learn to someday be the type of wife and mother that the Lord needs me to be. I love the Lord and I love His plans, how He always has a purpose for everything He does - the trials, the miracles, everything. It's always to help us learn and grow if we choose to trust Him.

I want you all to know that I know this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father's plan for each of us is perfect and that He, as our father, loves us and will give us exactly the experiences we need to become the type of people who will be worthy to inherit the Celestial Kingdom. If you ever question, "Why me" when a trial comes, remember that: He is just refining each of us in the way we personally need to be refined so that we can be received in His kingdom. I know that if we strive to be obedient and trust in the Lord, even in the face of trials, we will be blessed.

Love you all! Have a great week!!

Love,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk