I love Bolivia J

Happy Monday everyone,

Well, it’s been, as always, another good week here in Paraiso!  Probably the biggest news for us here this week was that we had a bishop change in the ward! That was really big, because Obispo Sullca has been bishop for more than seven years. But, our new bishop, Obispo Oliveira, is going to be great. He’s hardworking and in our first consejo de barrio with him yesterday, it was obvious that he is dedicated to doing the Lord’s work the way He wants it to be done in these days: really talking together, with everyone contributing, to see how we can help the families and people that we as missionaries and members are teaching. This ward is great and I’m excited to see how we can contribute to it in a meaningful way. We’re also excited because we learned that the stake presidency’s big goal for stake conference in November of this year is to DIVIDE THE STAKE. Right now there is one stake of ten wards here in Tarija (which is pretty impressive considering that it’s a city of about 20,000 people), but to get to another stake here, we’re going to have to work HARD with the members to make it. I’m praying that we can see this miracle here in Tarija, and I know that with the Lord’s help we can do it.

One of my favorite things about the mission is seeing the Lord work miracles in our lives and the lives of so many people. We see miracles all the time, and this week was no exception! One investigator, Belen, is nervous about getting baptized because her whole family is catholic, but we encouraged her to pray about it and get an answer for herself. She did it and felt a lot of peace. She’s now excited about following this path and even invited two friends to learn about the church as well!  Another miracle we had is with Fernanda and Pablo, a part-member family. Pablo is less active and Fernanda isn’t a member.  They’ve received the missionaries for years, but weren’t really interested until just recently. This week both of them came to church on their own, and Fernanda said she "wants to put more of herself into the church to find out if it’s really true." They’re coming to a family night at a member’s house with us tonight, and I feel confident that we will be planning a wedding (they aren’t married) and a baptism in the near future!

We are working with some other really prepared people, like Esteban, who showed up to church on his own and is completely turning his life around - he’s in the process of quitting drinking, smoking, and using a drug called coca (which you chew like chewing tobacco but is a green plant), and he is 100% determined to get baptized. The problem is that his wife is completely opposed to the church, but his testimony is so firm that he says he will do anything, even divorce her if necessary, to get baptized. We’re still praying to see a miracle there with his wife, because we don’t want Esteban to have to choose between the gospel and his family.

Anyway, as always, I love being a missionary here. I love this gospel and the way the Lord, through His Atonement, can completely change our lives if we let Him. Have a great week, I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk

Bienvenidos a Paraiso!!

Well hello everyone!

First off, shoutout to my mom: once again, Happy Mother’s Day! It was great to talk to the family a little bit yesterday for the last time in the mission. Glad to hear that everyone’s doing well and glad that I could even see my nieces and nephew through double skype: me to my house, and Ashley's iPad to Heather’s house. Pretty sweet!

Well, as those of you I skyped with yesterday have already heard, I’m now in a new area! I’m in a ward called Paraiso (Paradise), and boy is the name accurate! I’m still in Tarija, and actually in the ward right next door to my old ward, Central. Like, the limit of our area comes right up to the limit of Central. I’m opening an area once again, and my companion is Hermana Lopez. That’s right... this is the second time I have a companion named Hermana Lopez, ha. But this time, Hermana Lopez is from the states, and it’s the first time in the mission that I’m not training! The mission just made a big change: hermana capacitadoras are now in companionships like they do in other missions instead of being with companions that aren’t capacitadoras. We now have enough hermanas in the mission to do that, which is pretty exciting! I have LOVED training my whole mission, but it is also a great experience to work with someone that has experience in the mission and can teach me new things, that has fresh ideas. And we are responsible for four other companionships of hermanas, or in other words, all the hermanas in our zone. (Tarija is a pretty safe city, so it’s full of hermanas, and in this zone, there are more hermanas than elders... pretty nuts!) We’re excited to see how we can lift the hermanas in this zone to realize their full potential.

Anyway, but things in Paraiso are going great! We have been working a lot to form a good relationship with the bishop and see how we can support him, especially since he’s pretty worn out - he’s been bishop for more than 8 years already, with no end in sight that he knows of. And we’ve been seeing miracles right and left. The fun thing about opening an area is that we don’t know anything about the people, don’t know our way around, and have to contact tons, and we’ve been contacting lots of people that seem really prepared. A few days ago, for example, we were lost and went to ask someone for directions (a great excuse to start to talk to someone) and it turned out that she had wanted to receive the missionaries a long time ago but hadn’t been able to coordinate with them, so we made an appointment, went by the next day, and she immediately accepted a baptism date. Another investigator that we had hadn’t wanted to come to church up til then because she was afraid, but thanks to the help of a member that came with us and made her feel more comfortable, she came - AND brought a friend, who also really liked church and said we could visit her this week! (Accompany the missionaries, everyone! It makes a huge difference!) We have been getting referrals right and left, we have people who want to help us, the bishop is great... this is a great ward, and I’m really excited to be here.

Well, something I’ve been thinking about and studying a lot lately is the word "sanctification." Here in the mission we need to work with all our "heart, might, mind, and strength" and as I pondered my last transfer in Central, it hit me that although I was giving it all my might and strength, maybe I wasn’t working with all my heart and mind, and that brought me to study sanctification, which is basically, the process of becoming spiritually pure before the Lord. I love Helaman 3:35, which says:

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

I know if we strive to purify our hearts before the Lord, He will help us to be sanctified through His atonement. And that is my goal for this cambio: sanctify myself. I invite you all to learn more about the doctrine of sanctification and apply it in your own lives.

Love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Hermana Chelsie Faulk

Here’s a picture of a place called Coimata, a hike we did last Monday in my old zone! I’ll have pictures from the new zone and with my new companion hopefully next week. :)

Missionary Life!

May 5, 2014

Sorry about the less than creative subject today. I’ll have to keep working on that, ha. 

Well, this past week was action-packed! It started on Monday when we had the consejo de lideres (mission leadership council, I think it’s called in English) up in Santa Cruz, so we had to fly up to Santa Cruz on Monday, stay there until Tuesday afternoon, and then come on back to Tarija. The thing about still not being companionships of hermana capacitadoras is that my companion, Hermana Ence, always stays in Tarija while I go up to Santa Cruz. It’s sad to not be with my companion for more than 24 hours, but the blessing is that she can stay and work our area while I’m gone. :)

The consejo de lideres was fantastic, we all had to present a mission plan to achieve some high goals we have put as a mission, one of which is having 1450 baptisms in this year, the year 2014, which is the 50th anniversary of the church in Bolivia. Something I love about these consejos de lideres is that they really are a COUNCIL where we all talk together and come to conclusions together- it’s easy to see the Lord’s hand guiding us as we all come with different ideas every month and end up together reaching the same conclusion about what we need now in the mission. I know that the Lord really does guide us in all that we do, the little and the big things. Just as He guides a mission to be able to bring about the salvation of more of His children, He also will guide us individually in the questions we have and the help we need.

Then Wednesday, we had yet another exciting day, with a conference with Presidente Willard, but just for the hermanas. Presidente and Hermana Willard have been pretty concerned with the hermanas and the lack of self-confidence that often gets a lot of them down, discouraged, and makes a lot of them want to give up. I know that what he said helped a lot of the hermanas I work with, even though he didn’t necessarily know all the details that I have learned about their struggles - once again, interesting to see how the Lord guides us in all that we do. It was also very special to see, once again, the love that Presidente and Hermana Willard feel for all of us, their missionaries. They always, ALWAYS refer to us as their children and get all teary-eyed when they talk about their love for us. I love them.

And then Thursday, was dia del trabajador (Labor day, I think?) here in Bolivia, and our ward went for a day trip to the country! We historically have never been able to go to these sorts of things, but Presidente Willard gave us permission to continue to help with ward unity, and bring lots of investigators and less actives. I’m sending another email with pictures - it was gorgeous!

This is a picture of everyone that came with us…

and this is of us with the bishop’s family:

It was great - we brought an investigator, a less active hermana that has been coming back to church, and a whole less active family that hasn’t gone to church in a LONG time, and the elders in our ward also brought various investigators. It was great to see as friendships formed in the ward among all of them. Also, Tarija is so pretty! Mom, Dad, I know you’ve been dying to see what it’s like, so hopefully this gives you a taste. Next week I should have more pictures from the country, from a place that we’re going to visit today with the zone.

And finally, apart from all these exciting things, we have had the privilege to see even more miracles in our area. Yesterday, for example, was a great day. We have an investigator named Gonzalo whose dad died a few weeks ago, and we really showed up in just the right time - having his dad die has made him a lot more interested in how to live with his family forever, and he has accepted a baptism date and came to church yesterday. I’m grateful that the Lord sends us to people who need us. Also, we went to visit an active family yesterday and learned that a nephew just moved in to live with him - and he is truly a golden investigator. He’s already been reading the Book of Mormon, understood the restoration when we taught him, and accepted a baptism date and the invitation to go to church right away. And, we were able to teach a less-active member who has come to the realization that his drinking habits have driven away his wife and two daughters. He showed up to church on his own last week and asked to receive the missionary lessons because he wants to finally change his life. And finally, another less-active member showed up to church out of nowhere after being inactive for 14 years - no one, not even the bishop, knew him, but he wants to change his life and wants his wife to get to know the gospel. 

Wow - after a lot of hard work in this area, we are seeing the Lord’s hand here as people, of their own accord, are deciding that it’s time to come unto Christ. I love that - the Lord teaches me all the time that even after all I can do, I am totally dependent on Him. And once I humble myself enough to learn that lesson, that’s when He blesses me with miracles and with spiritual power.

Love you all! This week we have transfers so we’ll see where I am next Monday! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk

P.S. Shoutout to Bryan and Emily! Congratulations on getting married Saturday, and I’m excited to get to know my new sister-in-law in seven months. :)