To start off this week I would just like to inform you all about my new Companion that I will be training. His name is Elder Guarchaj and is from Guatemala. Coincidently, if any of you may remember but the last 2 missionaries I trained are from Guatemala as well. Which means this make all 3 of the missionaries I have trained are all from Guatemala. It is very interesting to think about considering that there are only like 4 Guatemalans in the entire mission.
As far as this week goes, it was a very interesting one. On Tuesday I got on a bus and headed to Cusco. While there, I had the chance to go out and eat some Chili’s because there is a Chili’s restaurant in Cusco. After being in Puno for 3 months and eating some very different food, it was nice to eat something similar to what we eat in the States. As Wednesday rolled around we were then placed in a room where President Herrera announced who our new Companions would be. Just like before, as soon as I saw the face of Elder Guarchaj, I knew he was going to be the one I would train. It is really quite interesting how that worked out! As Thursday rolled around we came back down to Puno and got right to work.
One of the First things we did when we got back to Puno was go out and contact. We went to a part of our area that we haven’t visit much and began knocking some doors. Starting out I did a lot of the talking and we were able to set up a few visits with some new investigators. Elder Guarchaj is very shy and doesn’t talk a whole lot so I have been giving him a lot of opportunities to talk and do the contacting to try and get him to open up a bit more. He is a fantastic missionary and has a lot of desires to work hard.
On Sunday we had the blessing of seeing Russell (our recent convert) receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained a Priest. Something that I always strive to do in every area I am in is to have a good relationship with all of the Youth, especially the Young Men. As soon as Russell was ordained they received him well and we were able to attend the 3rd hour with all of the Young Men. While there we were able to plan a big activity for this Thursday in which we are going to go out on divisions with all of them and visit all of the inactive Young Men in the Ward. There are more than 20 inactive so we have a lot of work to do but they are all very excited to go out and work hard with us to bring back their fellow Quorum members.
Another thing that we have been organizing in our Ward is an idea we had called “The Family Missionary”. Basically what it consists is every week a family in the Ward is assigned to be the Family Missionary which means that all of the family has to participate in helping us throughout the week in visiting investigators, less actives, and also opening their home for us to have a family night. For this week we assigned the family that I have gotten to know really well, the family Oliveira. They have 3 boys just like in my family and one of them is getting close to serving a mission so this week we have plans to work a lot with this family with all of the investigators and people that we are teaching right now.
Perhaps one of the greatest highlights of the week was the fact that Luis´ brother paid off his debt which means he is no longer being pursued by the Gangsters here and we can finally start working with him again this week. Not only that but Russell also brought his cousin to Church this week who is not a member. We were able to set up a visit and are planning to start teaching him this week and hopefully get him set up for baptism as well! Since Russell is now a Priest, he is now able to baptize which would truly be amazing watching one of our converts baptize another convert!
In closing this week, I just want to state how grateful for all of the things I have been able to learn on my mission! Each and every Area, Companion, and Assignment has been exactly what I needed each day in my mission. It has been far from easy but, the Lord has taught me so many different things. Without him I would not be the missionary nor the person that I am today. Each day brings new challenges and struggles but I testify that the Lord is involved in every single day of our lives. Even the little things to us are important to him. Out of all of the people who live on the earth he knows us all individually and for that I am grateful. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fawcett
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