Cambios…or not?
HELLO everyone!
Well, several of you have asked what happened with cambios this past week.... I’m still here in Paraiso, and I’m still with Hermana Lopez!!! That means I’ll be here with her for three cambios, more time than I've been with any other companion. :) And I’m so excited! Hermana Lopez and I get along great and we’re having fun and working hard together. Dad, to answer your question, I think that staying in one area for a long time is great. The ward really starts to feel like YOUR ward, you love it, you care about it, and you would do anything for that ward. I feel that way about Paraiso, and I see no down sides on that. President Willard is actually trying an experiment where he’s doing that, leaving the majority of the missionaries in their ward for a long time. In our whole zone, for example, only two missionaries got changed. So we’re applying exactly when Christine’s mission president did. :)
I feel like I’m really learning a lot here in Paraiso. I’m so grateful for the chance to stay here, especially since we've not been having the success we hoped for. Maybe that sounds backwards, but I really feel like there’s still something more I need to contribute to Paraiso before I can leave, something else the Lord needs of me here - with the ward and with the hermanas. Hermana Lopez and I both felt the same way, so we’re both grateful to stay here. We’ve had a few rough days lately, with confirmed lessons with members to accompany us falling through right and left. It’s really been impressive, frankly, how many confirmed lessons have fallen through - more than just chance, I’m sure of it. So I know that Heavenly Father is testing us to see how we respond to discouraging days and a lack of success. It’s interesting, because this is coming right at the moment that Hermana Lopez and I are working harder than ever and both feel like we’re becoming better and better missionaries. But I thought a lot about it, and realized that although I’m trying to be better and better, my perception of things was a little bit negative, thinking more of the bad things that happened in the week than of the blessings I have. After thinking about that a lot, I prayed and asked forgiveness to my Heavenly Father for having that kind of attitude and then tried to talk to Hermana Lopez so that we can both be better on that. I know that the Lord is teaching me an important lesson about staying positive and trusting in Him when despite my best efforts, things don’t go my way. I know that this lesson will bless me now because I can relate better to investigators, menos activos, and the other hermanas in the zone, and also will help me in my future. I’m coming to realize how much I really lack to be a converted servant of the Lord and I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to try again, every day.
Despite the tough moments, the Lord did bless us with miracles. We are teaching an hermana, Mariana, who has wanted to get baptized for weeks now and for various circumstances, we keep having to postpone her baptism. Well, she was supposed to get baptized this coming Saturday but we had to postpone it once again, to her (and our) disappointment. It was a miracle to see her reaction - she was sad, but has enough faith to be willing to wait another week to get baptized when a lot of other people would get discouraged after having their baptism pushed off three times like her. Another miracle was that two less actives who never come to church came to church yesterday! We’re really close to getting two less active returned missionaries rescued, which I am extremely grateful for. :) Also, our converso, Esteban, got a calling yesterday: he is first counselor in the ward Sunday School Presidency! He is a true convert and we are so proud of him :)
And finally, we had a miracle referencia, Ofelia. An investigator gave us her referencia a few weeks ago. We asked the investigator to talk to her, which she did, but Ofelia told her no, so we never went to meet her. Then a few days ago, we asked a menos activa for a referencia and she also gave us the same name, Ofelia. I told Hermana Lopez that this isn’t a coincidence, the Lord wants us to go find Ofelia. So we went yesterday and found her, and turns out she’s a less active member of the church and no one knew! She is married and has two kids and none of them are members, but she wants them to be. We are super excited to work with Ofelia and her family and get them to the temple. :) That was a testimony to me that the Lord knows His children and will do everything to bring them back to Him. I’m thankful for the chance to be a missionary and excited to keep working in Paraiso and with the hermanas in the zone!
Well, several of you have asked what happened with cambios this past week.... I’m still here in Paraiso, and I’m still with Hermana Lopez!!! That means I’ll be here with her for three cambios, more time than I've been with any other companion. :) And I’m so excited! Hermana Lopez and I get along great and we’re having fun and working hard together. Dad, to answer your question, I think that staying in one area for a long time is great. The ward really starts to feel like YOUR ward, you love it, you care about it, and you would do anything for that ward. I feel that way about Paraiso, and I see no down sides on that. President Willard is actually trying an experiment where he’s doing that, leaving the majority of the missionaries in their ward for a long time. In our whole zone, for example, only two missionaries got changed. So we’re applying exactly when Christine’s mission president did. :)
I feel like I’m really learning a lot here in Paraiso. I’m so grateful for the chance to stay here, especially since we've not been having the success we hoped for. Maybe that sounds backwards, but I really feel like there’s still something more I need to contribute to Paraiso before I can leave, something else the Lord needs of me here - with the ward and with the hermanas. Hermana Lopez and I both felt the same way, so we’re both grateful to stay here. We’ve had a few rough days lately, with confirmed lessons with members to accompany us falling through right and left. It’s really been impressive, frankly, how many confirmed lessons have fallen through - more than just chance, I’m sure of it. So I know that Heavenly Father is testing us to see how we respond to discouraging days and a lack of success. It’s interesting, because this is coming right at the moment that Hermana Lopez and I are working harder than ever and both feel like we’re becoming better and better missionaries. But I thought a lot about it, and realized that although I’m trying to be better and better, my perception of things was a little bit negative, thinking more of the bad things that happened in the week than of the blessings I have. After thinking about that a lot, I prayed and asked forgiveness to my Heavenly Father for having that kind of attitude and then tried to talk to Hermana Lopez so that we can both be better on that. I know that the Lord is teaching me an important lesson about staying positive and trusting in Him when despite my best efforts, things don’t go my way. I know that this lesson will bless me now because I can relate better to investigators, menos activos, and the other hermanas in the zone, and also will help me in my future. I’m coming to realize how much I really lack to be a converted servant of the Lord and I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to try again, every day.
Despite the tough moments, the Lord did bless us with miracles. We are teaching an hermana, Mariana, who has wanted to get baptized for weeks now and for various circumstances, we keep having to postpone her baptism. Well, she was supposed to get baptized this coming Saturday but we had to postpone it once again, to her (and our) disappointment. It was a miracle to see her reaction - she was sad, but has enough faith to be willing to wait another week to get baptized when a lot of other people would get discouraged after having their baptism pushed off three times like her. Another miracle was that two less actives who never come to church came to church yesterday! We’re really close to getting two less active returned missionaries rescued, which I am extremely grateful for. :) Also, our converso, Esteban, got a calling yesterday: he is first counselor in the ward Sunday School Presidency! He is a true convert and we are so proud of him :)
And finally, we had a miracle referencia, Ofelia. An investigator gave us her referencia a few weeks ago. We asked the investigator to talk to her, which she did, but Ofelia told her no, so we never went to meet her. Then a few days ago, we asked a menos activa for a referencia and she also gave us the same name, Ofelia. I told Hermana Lopez that this isn’t a coincidence, the Lord wants us to go find Ofelia. So we went yesterday and found her, and turns out she’s a less active member of the church and no one knew! She is married and has two kids and none of them are members, but she wants them to be. We are super excited to work with Ofelia and her family and get them to the temple. :) That was a testimony to me that the Lord knows His children and will do everything to bring them back to Him. I’m thankful for the chance to be a missionary and excited to keep working in Paraiso and with the hermanas in the zone!
Love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Chelsie Faulk
P.S. Trying to finally send some pictures despite the virus risk;
I know it’s been a while.
This one is of us with our fantastic bishop and his wife
Marcy, who makes our lunch every day. They are fantastic, like my mission
parents, seriously.
And then this one is with Hermano Mauricio, our beloved less active returned missionary who hasn’t gone to church in YEARS and who is now almost rescued! We are so happy for him :)
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