Week 46 - Christ and His Atoning Sacrafice

Hola,

This week was great! It seemed like a bunch of really interesting things happened this week! First off, I just want to tell you some really interesting stories from the week!

This morning I woke to hear people screaming and rioting outside, so as we all rushed to see what was happening out the balcony, we were amazed to see thousands of people in the street rioting about something! At first we couldn’t really figure out what was going on but then as we saw a bus passing by, we were shocked to see what happened next. As we watched, probably a 100 people got the bus to stop in the road and ended up taking it over. They hoisted a flag out the window of the bus which I guess meant that they are upset about something with the transportation around here. I am not really sure to be honest, but it sure was really interesting to see people literally take over a bus and drive it away.

Also, this week we seriously found golden family to teach. We were at a Ward activity when a member pointed us over to one of her friends and told us to contact her. As we walked up, we were greeted by women, her husband, and their son. As we began to talk to them, they immediately asked us if we could visit them during the next week. They also just told us randomly that there son is turning 8 in August which I found incredible since they randomly just told us that out of nowhere. Long story short, we have a visit tonight (Monday) which I am really looking forward too!

As well this week, I was able to meet an incredible family from our Ward. I am not sure if I have said it before or not, but each Sunday we are invited to eat lunch with a different family in the Ward which has been one of my favorite things so far about my new Sector here. This particular family was the family we ate with this past Sunday and I have to say it really was such a great time. They have a little boy and girl that were so excited to have us over and as we visited with the family it was really interesting because the father commenced to tell us about his love for farming and asked me if I had ever ridden a horse. I told him that I had ridden a horse several times since I was a baby with my Parents and Grandpa and that my Grandpa’s family owned a large ranch with a lot of cows and thousands of sheep.  That proved to be a really interesting conversation because he knows people that have worked in Utah as Sheep Herders. He isn’t quite sure where but I thought that was really cool!

Finally, in closing I just want to share one of the big highlights from the week. As I was put in the street one night walking home from the Pension I had this man walk up to me. He asked me who I was and who we represented. I told him we were Missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ. As we got talking to him he told us about the hardships he had faced in his life and how he didn’t really know if he believed in Christ anymore. As we spoke I felt a genuine love for this man and knew with assuredly that our Heavenly Father loves him.  We ended up contacting him, but unfortunately he lives in another Sector so I had to pass the reference. As we walked away however I looked back at him and it was like I saw him in the future standing in all white, ready to be baptized.

I am so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for his Atoning Sacrifice. Through the difficult times in my life and throughout my mission I have truly learned what it means to rely on Him and his Atonement completely. He understands any difficulty or trial each of us may face in each of our lives because he suffered for all of it. I love him and am so thankful I am able to rely on his Atoning Sacrifice each and every day of my life. I love each and every one of you and pray for all of you each day! Have the best week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

Overlooking the City of Cusco

Houses are a Little Better Than Previous Areas

More of the City of Cusco

Picture of Cuscos From Mission Office

Cusco Has Tons of Ancient Ruins

These Ruins are in My Zone

Mission Tag Selfie Looking over Cusco

4 "Departments" or "States that Make the Cusco Mission

Week 45 - Half Formed Chicken

Hola,

The weeks seem to just be going by faster and faster! This week was a super crazy busy week in the office and as well teaching. Let me first get started by saying that my week started off by hosting the big leaders meeting here in Cusco with all of the Zone Leaders from the mission. All of us office Elders gave them training and helped teach them about some things that need to improve in the mission. It was really cool but one of the coolest parts was being able to see my trainer Elder Iza again! I really learned a whole lot from him in my training and I have a lot of respect for him because he really helped and taught me so much. As well, during this leaders meeting I was also in charge of counting all of the money that was spent in each of the Zones of the mission during the past change to make sure the Zone Leaders didn’t owe the mission any money. It was honestly really crazy because I seriously had to count thousands of soles which added up to a whole ton of money in dollars.

Also, this week I also had the chance to go on Divisions with my Zone Leader Elder Bever, who is from my MTC group. We seriously had such a fun time and got a whole lot of work done as well. During our Divisions, we worked in my Sector but to be completely honest it was sort of difficult because I honestly don’t know my Sector very well since I have only been here for such a very short time. It was still really fun though and perhaps the best part is we went to a visit with one of our investigator named Juliana with her Mom and had a few members come with us to the visit. In the visit, we had a chance to teach these 2 about the Atonement. Now before I go into that, you need to understand that these 2 have been investigators for quite a while and have not been progressing much. As we taught this lesson, we each felt such a strong Spirit as we bore testimony of the reality of the Saviors Sacrifice. As we taught we noticed tears in the eyes of both the mother and the daughter, so we are hoping and feel that they will both be more open to us.

Finally, I guess I just want to share a little bit more about my life here in Cusco. So, as you may have thought, it’s so much different here compared to my previous areas. What I have noticed is that the people here seem to not be so shocked to see a white guy, which is really interesting considering that in Puno and in Juliaca the people literally drop their jaws when they see one. As well, the people here also cook a lot different. One thing I have noticed is that the food seems to taste a little better compared to other parts of the mission. But the most interesting thing of all is that here in Cusco, the elevation is a little lower, so as soon as I got here I immediately noticed it was so much easier to walk around. As well, here in the office we don’t have anyone to wash my clothes so we wash them ourselves and we also make our own breakfast because our Pension doesn’t make it for us. So lately I have been making myself a whole lot of eggs to eat for breakfast and this past week I cracked an egg and out came a mostly formed chicken which kind of ruined my desire to eat eggs for a while.

As I continue here in Cusco I am so very thankful for the opportunity I have to share the Gospel with the incredible people here. I Love this Gospel and the experiences I am blessed to have each and every day here in the mission. It certainly is not easy but it is all so very worth it each day as I share a message that can change a person’s life forever.

Love

Elder Fawcett

Money From Leaders Conference

Seriously Like 10 Thousand Soles

Mission Elders
(Elders Boelter Westbrook, Chango, Ordonez, Fincher Fawcett)

Week 44 - A Crazy Man With A Knife

Hola,

Now I know you are all probably dying to know what happened this week based on the title of this week’s letter, so let me get right into that. So, this past Wednesday night my Companion, Elder Westbrook and I were walking to our Penchanista to eat dinner when a crazy drunk man approached us and started saying all sorts of horrible things about Mormons and missionaries. Just ignoring him, we kept walking. But unfortunately he followed with his continual yelling and insults. We began to walk faster and got some distance from him. It was then that we looked over to see him yell some horrible swear words at us as he pulled an enormous looking knife out of his pocket. It was probably like 10 inches long and as soon as we saw it, we took off to the pension’s house. Thankfully we were able to get in the house unnoticed by the crazy man. As we entered the house, we watched out the window to watch as the crazy drunk man ran past the house, knife in hand. It truly is incredible to know that our Heavenly Father really does protect his missionaries.

This past week we also got a new investigator named Hugo. Hugo has a really amazing and special story. His wife has been very sick for many years, stuck in a wheelchair. He also has a young son named Nefi which is Nephi in Spanish, coincidentally. When we asked him, he immediately accepted the Book of Mormon and has been reading it like crazy. He can’t seem to get enough of it! As we’ve taught him, he has learned a lot about the power of prayer and has been praying that our Heavenly Father will help and heal his wife. As he has been doing this, he has noticed his wife getting gradually better and seeing her healed.  We are really looking forward to helping him progress and teaching him the importance of the gospel.

This week was a ton of work, but it was seriously so fun to work in this incredible work. But definitely the highlight of the entire week was being able to Skype home and spend some time talking with my family. It’s been really fun to be here in Cusco and to meet some really amazing people as well. One such family is my Penchanista. They are really amazing people and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them.  My pension has a little boy named Jose that we always sing songs with and such. It’s really funny and fun to teach him songs in English. I’m sending home a video so that you can all hear him sing. As well, this week it was my pension’s birthday. So Elder Westbrook and I made her food from the states, which was Sloppy Joes and French fries. It was super delicious and she absolutely loved it.

As I move forward in this work, I am so grateful for all of the experiences I’m blessed with and for all of the awesome people the Lord is leading us too. I love you all and wish you all the best week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

Insert from Mom and Dad:  It really was great talking to Elder Fawcett.  He looked Great and bore his testimony for us in Spanish and Quechua.  His Penchanista promised to take great care of him for us and she must be doing a pretty good job although he is still supper skinny, he said he about 6’ 4” and weights about 198lbs. He said all the weight is muscles in his legs from walking up and down hills all day long!

                                       Singing Songs With My Penchanistas Son Jose at Lunch

Our Penchanista, Hermana Yesenia and the Elder She Currently Feeds .	Birthday Party for Hermana Yesenia Wall at the Back Shows All the Elder Sisters She has Fed Through the Years!

Elder Fawcett With Hermana Yesenia's Son Jose

Welcoming New Missionaries to Cusco

Buying New Mattresses

New Mattress in the Mission Home

My New Desk Were I Spend About 30% of My Week

Week 43 - Four Failed Attempts

Hola,

Wow this week flew by! The office life seriously just flies by even faster since I am busier than I ever have been. To start off, let me just talk about some highlights for the week.

As one of the new office missionaries, we are basically responsible for making the mission run. Our tasks are really important because without them, the mission wouldn’t function. So with my job, I am over literally ALL of the entire money for the whole mission. You wouldn’t imagine how much it cost to make a mission run for a week, let alone for an entire change (6 Weeks).  I deal with every aspect of money with every missionary in the mission along with my mission President as well. So, this week consisted of several meetings with President Herrera, planning and thinking of ways to help our mission become better, etc. As well, since it was the first week of the change, we are responsible for training and helping of the new missionaries.

Overall, it was a super busy week. It seriously is crazy to think we are back to the next Monday already. Along with all of the office work I have to do, I also spend a lot of time as a normal missionary. So let me share a quick few highlights from my proselyting and normal work. First off, this is my first time serving in Cusco. The city and atmosphere here is completely different from all of the mission that I previously served in. The city is huge and consists of many members of the church, which is a good thing because a lot of members are really willing to help the missionaries. When I got here however, I realized that there are so many families where everyone in the family isn’t a member yet. So as we were out in the streets this week, we were walking in the crowd contacting people. There were tons of people to talk to, but I didn’t know who it was that I should talk to. As I looked around, I noticed a lady and her baby sitting on a bench nearby. I felt a very distinct impression that I should contact her, so I did. As I spoke to her, I quickly learned that her family were all members of the church, it just had never really interested her. As I talked, I asked her a total of four times if she’d be willing to let us pass by and visit her. Each time she told us no. After the four failed attempts, we thanked her for her time and walked away. After about five minutes, we saw the lady walking towards us. She then commenced to tell us that she wanted us to visit her. Asking her why she’d changed her mind, we found out that she had previously had a divorce recently and had been praying to our Heavenly Father for someone to find her and help her, which she had realized was us.

One more cool story. So since I’m here in Cusco now, the city is enormous! We use a lot of transportation to get around. I’ve quickly realized that the ten minutes you have sitting in a taxi is a perfect opportunity to contact, so I always make it a habit to try and contacting the taxi driver.  Throughout the week we have ridden in so many taxies, that we’ve gotten a TON of contacts. The problem however is that all the people we contacted lived in another sector or other sectors in our zone. One day however, we were riding in a taxi and once again I was thinking to myself that the driver was going to live in another sector. To my surprise, I quickly found out that he indeed lived in our sector, but the coolest part is he was genuinely interested in our message and was the one who asked us if we could visit him someday. After that experience, I will never question whether I should contact the taxi driver or not.

Here in Cusco the people are super friendly and perhaps one of the friendliest is our Penchanista, Hermana Yesenia. She is the best and seriously makes really good Peruvian food! The cool thing is that she has a six year old little boy who seriously is hilarious, but one of the funny things is he listens to some rap music from the states and unknowingly will say words. But perhaps one of the funniest things is he ended up calling my Companion a word he heard in a rap song that ended up being racist and had no idea what he had just said.

I seriously love the time I am having here in my mission. The Lord has never taught me so much in such a short amount of time. No matter what it is, I know that the Lord will always bring us through our trials. I love this work and the lives I see blessed each day through it. I love you all so much! Have the best week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

It Is Truly Amazing To Learn How A Mission Works And Getting
 To Work With The Mission President Daily Is Awesome!
Office Work Takes About 30% Of My Time Leaving 70%
For Regular Missionary Work

Week 42 - A Huge Surprise

Hola,

Well this week I got the news of a HUGE surprise that I wasn’t really expecting. On Friday, I got a call that I needed to pack my bags and come to Cusco. So, I packed my bags and had to say a really, really hard good-bye to all of the incredible people that I met during my time in Juliaca. As I departed Juliaca, I felt so sad because I had truly loved the work, the people, and everything about this city. But perhaps one of the hardest good-byes was to all of the amazing missionaries that I had the chance to help and learn from in my time in Juliaca as a Zone leader.

As I rode on the 8 hour bus ride, I had the chance to sit next to an older woman from Alsace Lorraine, France. This particular place has a really special significance to me because it happens to be the exact place where my mom’s side of the family is from. The woman named Frani was friendly and spoke very good English. As we sat, she wanted me to tell her and teach her about the things I have learned about Peru during my time here since she was here to visit as a tourist. As I did so, the conversation slowly shifted to what I was doing in Peru. I explained our purpose as missionaries and taught her a few basic principles that we believe in. The message really interested her and it was really incredible when I explained to her that my family was from the same place that she is. In the end, I got her information and I am going to send it to the mission that she lives in. There is always a chance to share the gospel as a missionary!

As I got to Cusco, I received my new assignment as one of President Herrera’s secretaries. My official title is the Financial Secretary because I will handle ALL of the money in the entire mission along with several other responsibilities. To be completely honest, I was a little sad that I would have this new position, but after thinking and praying, I have realized that this is where my Heavenly Father wants me to be. In my time here in Cusco, I will learn how the mission works and functions and at the same time, helping each missionary in the mission. I also will be serving in a new area called Chasqui in the Zone of Inti Raymi and I look forward to serving the amazing people here in Cusco. The previous Financial Secretary will be training me for a change on how everything works. His name is Elder Westbrook and is from Bountiful, Utah.

As I left Juliaca this past week, I felt a special spirit because this past week Elder Melo and I had put seven baptismal dates on the calendar and the Zone has incredible work going on. I am so thankful to have had the chance to serve and help in my time in Juliaca. Helping others is something that most overlook as missionaries, it is such a blessing to watch and help others to grow. I love my Heavenly Father and know that he has a reason for calling me to this new assignment. I love being a missionary and for the amazing experiences I will have in my new Sector!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

Elder Fawcett and New Companion Elder Westbrook