Week 50 - Saqsaywaman

Hola,                                                                                                                                                    

  

Well, one year from today I will officially get on the airplane and be on my way back home. With the way changes fall, my official release date is June 26, 2018. I am not trying to be trunky or anything, I just think its super crazy how fast time flies and how little time I have left here in Peru. This week was the big celebration here in Cusco to celebrate the Incas. Although I didn’t get to go, I heard music coming from miles away and even saw a few people every now and then dressed up. So that was pretty sweet!

This week it was crazy busy. We had the leaders meeting here in Cusco and that was awesome to be able to be there for that as well. I was also way sick for a big chunk of the week. I’m not quite sure what was wrong with me, but my stomach literally hurt so bad. We think I had some sort of infection, but the best thing to do for that is to just let it pass. Being a missionary here in Peru, you quickly learn that getting sick is a part of the mission. So you can either suck it up or be miserable.

Today for P-day we went to Saqsaywaman, which was a temple for the Incas. It was super cool to walk around and see some incredible ruins along with some really cool areas that people consider to perhaps have been baptismal fonts. There were a lot of places that people say has significance in the Book of Mormon and it was really neat and awesome to see some incredible things. The crazy part was that there was a huge mix up that happened when we were there and let’s just say the people thought we were the problem when we were really okay and the police were called and thought we did something, but we didn’t do anything wrong at all. So today we almost got arrested in Saqsaywaman which just made it that much more interesting hahaha!

   

Some quick stories from the week. Well, that family we are teaching is awesome! The wife and her son are wanting to be baptized, but now it’s all up to us to being able to convert and help the husband. His big problem I would say is he just gets hung up on little doctrines he doesn’t agree with and doesn’t think about all the things he does agree with. The process is slow, but I know that the Lord has prepared this family and that someday they will all be baptized and sealed.

Other than that, I was riding in another taxi (yeah I know, another taxi story) with this guy who was listening to some pretty loud rap music (reminded me of my brother Tanner) and was completely a hard contact because of the situation. I felt like I needed to talk to him and so I just started trying to talk over the rap. Eventually he clued into the fact that I wanted to talk and turned down his music. After talking to him for a while he accepted a visit and I was able to pass the reference to the sector he lives in. I guess the thing I am amazed at is the fact that it would have been so much easier to just ignore the prompting because it would have been a “hard” contact rather than putting forth some effort and contacting him. I have really learned that the more effort we put forth, the more the Lord is going to bless us.   

In closing, I want to share with each of you how much I love missionary work. I may not be the best at contacting, speaking, or teaching lessons, but the thing I have really learned here is how to follow the spirit. With the spirit, you can literally do ANYTHING! The Lord will always bless you as you put forth your best effort to teach the gospel. As his servants, he intents this message to reach every single one of his children and as long as you are receptive to his promptings, the Lord will bless you with what you need. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

In Cusco, There Are 2 Zones, Cusco and Inti Raymi (King of the Incas)
Last Week on P-Day, The 2 Zones Battled it Out In Paint Ball!!!

Elder Fawcett and a Peruvian Women at Saqsaywaman
Note She is Standing While Elder Fawcett is Kneeling!!!

The Fortress of Saqsaywaman pronounced - "sexy woman" and in the Quechua language means "satisfied falcon", it was this "falcon" that guarded the capital of the empire, since it was possible to overlook all of Cusco from the hill where it was built. This complex is considered the most important ceremonial site of the Hanan Qosqo (High Cusco) period. The site has three retaining terraces, featuring huge walls with precisely interlocking stones, creating a zigzag formation. Some speculate the plan was to always be able to outflank a besieging army, others that the shape forms the teeth in the figure of a puma that Cusco was designed to resemble. The fort contains three towers. The Central Tower, called Muyuj Marca “the round place” was a residence for the Incas. Its walls were covered in gold and silver plate. The second tower was known as Paucamarca “the friendly place” and the third tower, called Sallajmarca “the rough place”. 

Week 49 - Claudya's Baptism

Hola,

Where to begin this week.  I am super tired and really just loving this work!  First off, I just wanted to update you all on the family that we have been teaching. This past week we had a visit that was really difficult it seemed because they had some really tough questions for us once we arrived. I won’t say what questions they had but, I will just say that I felt the spirit so very strongly as I was able to look at them in the eyes and give them the best answer I could. I have truly come to learn that at times, we cannot always answer that every question that people have. Sometimes we can try our best and hope that the spirit will let their hearts feel that our answer was enough. That’s how I felt about that visit. I felt as though the spirit answered them in a way that they were satisfied enough. Other than that, we are trying so hard with this family and hoping to be able to put a baptismal date with all of them.

Also this past week I was asked to baptize a little girl named Claudya. What an amazing opportunity! I would like to just share a little bit about her and her back story. Claudya is 14 years old and has a really difficult life. Her mom is a member but her dad on the other hand hasn’t allowed to her go to church for years. So, this little girl was raised her whole life up to this point without the blessings of the gospel. However, that’s not even the saddest part. This little girl’s mom recently was in an accident a few weeks ago and was paralyzed. She can no longer walk or really do much of anything accept lay in bed. A few weeks ago, we were asked to give a blessing to this woman and feel of the great love that our Heavenly Father has for her and at the same time feel of the same love he has for her daughter. For me, it was a great tender mercy to be the one to baptize her. As I preformed the ordinance, I felt the spirit so very strong and this little girl had the biggest smile on her face that made me feel so happy. Sometimes, we don’t realize how blessed we are to have this gospel in our lives. I am so grateful for it and the opportunity to share it with all of those that I come into contact with each and every day here in Cusco.

Last quick experience for the week. So, this past week was crazy with work and it seemed we didn’t have enough time in the day to get all of the things done that we needed to do. As we were literally running to a visit, I felt this prompting to knock on this door. Thinking to myself “Oh no, I better stop now, or I am gonna end up coming back”. So I stopped and knocked on the door. The door opened up and we met a man and his wife who are members of the church. As we talked to them we found out that they have been super inactive for years and have recently felt a great desire to come back to the church. After a few minutes of talking I had the feeling to ask them to come to church this past week. They looked at each other and said “Well its time. So we will be there!” I am happy to say that they did come to church this past week!!

In closing, I just want to share a quick testimony in Quechua (The native language of the Incan Empire), I have been trying to spend a little time learning a few words and such lately and to be honest, it’s really hard to learn it along with Spanish, but here you go:

Ñuqa yachay haqay Jesukristoj kawsay. Pay yanauna llanpanku e Ñoqaq yanqata achura kay wan runa kaypi llanpanku. Noqa munay man Mormonpa Qelqanmanta Aqllaska T´aqakuna, hoq jesucristomanta willakoq wan llapa kawsay. Noqa munay 3 T´aqa 7 “Hinataq noqa Nephi taytayta niraqni: risaqmi, ruwamusaqtaq wiraqocha kamachisqanta. Yachanin runakunaq wawankunaman wiraqocha mana ima kamachiytapas qosanta, paykunaman kamachisqanta  hunt´anankupaq ñanta” mana allichaspaqanispa.

I am so very grateful for this wonderful work and the incredible people I meet here in Perú. I love teaching these people and seeing the Lord's hand in my life each and every day! I testify that he lives and loves each and every one of us. There is nothing you can do that will make him love you any less. I love you all so very much and wish you all a great week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

Claudya and Elder Fawcett

Claudya, Her Mother, Sister Missionaries, Elder Fawcett and Ward Members

My New Matte Cup!! .

Lunch with President and Sister Herrera, During Changes

Week 48 - Elder Christensen and Ollantaytambo

Hola,

Busy pretty much sums up this week! Seriously though, we have changes today so we are super busy working today. Thankfully we have P-Day the Saturday before changes since we have to work today. So first off, I just want to say that my Companion is now Elder Ordonez. He is from Guayaquil, Ecuador and speaks English super well. I would argue he speaks the best English out of any other Latino in the mission. So, I am really looking forward to using that to help me get better at Spanish!

Anyway, so this week we had a couple visits with the family I mentioned last week. Our visit last Monday went super well. They read the pamphlet and had so many great questions. However, the husband got so interested that he did a lot of reading on the internet about Joseph Smith and polygamy. Responding to questions like this has been something that I continually have been faced with in my mission. We explained that it was a commandment God had given to the early members, but was no longer a commandment. We even showed him instances in the Bible where it also was a commandment. After explaining all of this, he understood and accepted what we had explained. As we continued through the visit, it was super amazing to see as the Spirit worked in him to testify of the reality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. We are really looking forward to continue to help this great family progress and are hoping this week that we can get them a date for baptism.

As well, this past Saturday as I mentioned before was our P-Day. So we went to a really cool Incan site where there are seriously a TON of ruins. It is called Ollantaytambo and the ruins are dated to be from the same time period as Machu Picchu. In this particular Incan city there are several really cool ruins to see which include the level things on the mountain which allowed them to farm ( look like stairs), as well as The Temple of the Sun, a Military Fortresses, and the Ancient Incan Water System can be seen along with several other various ruins.  It was seriously super cool and the coolest part is I got in for free since I am officially a Citizen of Cusco.

This week we also had the visit from Elder Christensen, the president of the Seventy. He came with Elder Goday who is the President of the Area. They gave some really awesome talks that I am still trying to study and apply to my work as a missionary. Oh and we sang and that went great as well. They seemed to like and enjoy it a whole lot! The funny thing is in preparation for their visit, we painted the Church which was pretty fun except for the fact that I got paint all over myself.

In closing I cannot believe that today I hit 11 months since I left home. The mission flies! Next month I am officially half way and I cannot believe that. I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel with these amazing Peruvian people who I absolutely love! I love you all and wish you all the best week!

Love,

Elder Fawcett 

Elder Christensen, President and Sister Hererra With Mission Staff

My Carved Inca Head From Ollantaytambo

Selfie After Painting Service Project

Outskirts of Cusco

Map of Ollantaytambo

Pictures of Ollantaytambo

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Bearded Man In Back

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Grain Silos

Bearded Man

Ten Windows

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Temple of the Sun

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Six Monoliths

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Military Zone

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Vantage Point

Enclosure of the Ten Niches

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Source of Water

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Temple of Water

Temple of Water

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Relaxing Along The Temple Waters

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Inca Water System

Temple Fountain

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Ceremonial Fountains

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Peruvian Lama's

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