Bolivia Bound

Fall down and worship Him

July 14, 2014

Well, as always we’re working hard here in Paraiso and the Lord continues to bless us with miracles. It was a rough week in some ways - we lost a few fantastic investigators that we were excited about, and that was sad for us. It was especially hard when we went to visit one investigator, Adriana, who had gone to church with her son three times and had a baptism date for the 26th. We had been working with her a lot and could see her faith growing. I don’t exactly know why, but I felt a special love for her, even more than for most investigators. But we went by with a member a few days ago and she explained to us that she had decided to go back to her old church and asked us not to come by anymore. It was heartbreaking; Hermana Lopez and I both cried because we loved her so much. We talked about it that night and both felt that the Lord wanted us to understand better how He feels when we choose to walk away from Him. I feel that that’s part of why I really felt something special for Adriana - the Lord wanted to teach me a powerful lesson. Hermana Lopez and I talked about how hard it must be when our Heavenly Father sends one of His children down to earth knowing full well, with His infinite knowledge, that that child will not make it back to the Celestial Kingdom, will not live with Him again. It must be an absolutely heartbreaking feeling, and He knows it from the first moment that He sends that child down to Earth. I never want to break my Heavenly Father’s heart like that. I want to live worthy to be with Him again after this life.

But like I said, even with the challenges, the Lord is definitely blessing us. We have had several miracles with investigators and less actives this week: we were able to rescue an hermana, Ana, and bring her back to activity in the church. Apart from that, we received several golden referrals of investigators that were learning about the church and attending in other wards, but now live here. Both of these hermanas have baptism dates for the 26th and are progressing well! We also saw a miracle with our ward mission leader. He was less than excited about his calling, but now has suddenly changed - he accompanied us to a cita for the first time, he gave us referencias for the first time, agreed to pick up a less active member, was punctual to correlacion for the first time... he has totally changed, and it’s a miracle! I know this is key to helping us work better with the ward, which is a goal Hermana Lopez and I have. We’re visiting the members more and trying to strengthen them, and working on a great activity of the obra misional to strengthen the ward.

A long time ago on my mission, I put the goal to read all of Doctrine and Covenants and the New Testament in Spanish, together with my continual reading of the Book of Mormon. I just finished Doctrine and Covenants the other day and today had the opportunity to start the New Testament, and I LOVE it. I love reading about Jesus Christ’s life; there are so many lessons to learn from His teachings and also from the way people act around him. I really like Matthew 2:10-11: When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." I love the story of the three kings in these scriptures. We remember that they had traveled an enormous distance once they saw the star in the sky, for months or possibly even years (remembering that Herod killed everyone under two years old; Jesus was not a newborn), and then they proceeded to rejoice, fall down at the Christ child’s feet, and worship Him. They presented unto Him the best gifts they had. Do we treat Christ that way? Are we willing to sacrifice time, energy, money, to make the long journey unto Him and really know Him? And once we have come to know Him through our own personal journey, are we willing to fall down and worship Him unconditionally, giving Him the best gift we have, which is our heart? I invite you all to reflect on this scripture in your own life. Where are each of us in this journey? Do we really love Christ?

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!!!

Love,

Hermana Chelsie Faulk