Monday, December 18, 2017

Week 75 - Walking and Our Christmas Present

Hola,

Walking! Just like last week we walked a whole lot! My Companion and I are currently in the process of trying to find more people to teach. I think we knocked on more than 100 doors and it seemed like every single one of them got either slammed shut, we got sworn at, or just had flat out rude comments made to us. It was a pretty tough week as far as finding new people to teach. But we did have some incredible success when it came to the investigators that we are teaching.

First off I think I mentioned one of the people we are teaching, Ronald, has a lot of questions. This past week my Companion and I were doing our morning studies when we had the really strong impression to do a big study on the hardest questions to answer when an investigator asks. We sat down and were able to find scripture references and even practiced teaching the principles to each other. When the afternoon came, we had a visit set up with Ronald and as soon as we sat down he began to ask us questions, the exact same questions that we had previously practiced that morning. We were both so very grateful as we were able to teach him the things which we had prepared (not knowing that we were going to need) and help him to feel the Spirit testify to him that the things we were teaching him were true. As the visit came to a close, for the first time Ronald had a satisfied grin on his face as he did not have any other questions to ask us. He committed to pray about everything we have taught him but perhaps the most interesting thing is at the very end of the visit he made the comment that he had never felt such a good feeling before.

This week we did manage to find a really awesome new investigator name Yboica. She is 24 years old and we were able to go and teach her a lesson. In the end she felt the Spirit super strong and accepted an invitation to come to church in the very first visit that we had. The best part of the visit was at the end when she told us that she had more people that she knew of who would be interested in what we were sharing, so we are hoping that this week she can present us to even more investigators to teach.

Perhaps one of my favorite people to visit is Milder! Milder is awesome! He is pretty close to our age and we have become such great friends with him. We frequently pass by his barber shop since it is on our way to the church and he always stops us to talk. He is progressing slowly but we have enjoyed teaching him and helping him to feel of the love that our Heavenly Father has for him this past week.

Finally, I just want to share a really cool story from this past week. So as most of you already probably know, there are a TON of dogs out in the streets here but in order to get to our apartment, we have to walk down this big alley. There is no other way to go so as we were walking home the other night, there was a huge Rottweiler standing in the middle of the alley. As soon as we entered the alley, I got the huge Spiritual Impression to slowly walk out. I grab my Companion and we slowly backed out of the alley. The dog then ran full speed at us. Luckily there is a gate that you have to open in order to get into the alley because it saved our lives since the dog could not get us. We stood outside of the gate for a few minutes debating on what to do. As time passed and it got later we wondered if we would ever be able to get home, so I prayed. I kept getting the impression that we needed to just wait. So we just waited. After about 10 minutes a lady randomly walked out of a house and told us that she was sorry for leaving her dog in the alley. She had been in a party and had randomly remembered that her dog had been left in the alley way. She put the dog away and we were both able to safely get home.

In closing this week, I just want to close with a brief testimony that I have gained. This is my second Christmas in the mission and I have been trying to focus as much as I can on my objective as a missionary. Inviting others to come unto Christ. Although this week has been really difficult, I have remembered each day of this very Special Calling that I have. Each and every person needs the Savior of mankind in their lives, they just don’t know it yet.  No matter how many doors I get slammed in my face or how many people say terrible things to us, I know that the Savior loves all of us and that he desires that his message reach every single person here in Manco Capac. I love him and am so grateful for this special time of year that we have to remember and keep our focus on him. I love you all and pray that you all have a Merry Christmas and that you each remember the true reason why we celebrate this time of year.

Love,

Elder Fawcett

                                                                         Our Christmas Present! 

Peruvian Pizza for Lunch!







Our Penchanista's Christmas Present





About the Size of a Guinea Pig







Brownie!