This week was great. For starters I just want to start off by telling you all about this past Sunday at Church. So as I stated last week in my letter, Russell received the Priesthood and this past Sunday he had the chance to bless for the first time. He didn’t have a white shirt or tie so I bought him one since none of mine will fit him well and I gave him a tie of mine. On Sunday he had the opportunity to bless the Sacrament for the first time and for me, it was such a special experience to see someone who I had the chance to teach, preforming an ordinance for so many people in the Ward. Not only that, but Luis came to church this week and since it was Fast Sunday he got up all by himself and went to the pulpit and shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon with everyone in the Ward. Everyone kept asking us after when Luis was baptized because his testimony was very powerful and helped many people. Sadly, Luis is still not a member but that brings us into another story of this past week!
So as all of you know, Luis has been listening to us for quite some time. He has had his difficulties but has now been able to overcome all of them and is now ready to be baptized. He has the desire to be baptized but this past week we found out that Luis wants the support of his Father as he enters the waters to be baptized. Although we were able to have his Mom sign his baptismal register, Luis has stated that he is waiting for his Father to support him in order to make this decision. We have talked to him a lot about the importance of baptism and this week I got a really strong prompting that the solution wasn’t convincing Luis that he needs to be baptized because he already wants to be, the solution his convincing his Father to support him. So, after talking with Luis he felt as well that it would be a good idea for us to talk to his Father. This week we have planned to “surprise visit” his Father in order to talk to him and help him so that he can be supportive of Luis and so that Luis can make this very important covenant with our Heavenly Father.
This week we spent a lot of time knocking on more doors and although we have had more than we can count who have either slammed the door in our face or yelled at us, we have been able to find a few good potential new investigators who are willing to listen to us so hopefully we can find them again and teach them this coming week!
Also this week I bought a cool new souvenir that I plan on bringing home. It is a musical instrument called the Charango! It is a traditional Andean musical instrument that is played a lot here in Perú and throughout my mission I have heard it a lot! I have been learning how to play it from a member and so far I know a little bit and hopefully by the time I get home, I can play a few songs. The Charango I bought has a hand wood carving of Machu Picchu on the back which makes it even more special.
In closing this week, I just wanted to share one quick last experience from this past week. So as many of you may or may not know there is a huge drinking problem here in Puno and we run into drunks all day everyday but this past week we saw a man who had passed out and couldn’t move. Coincidently we knew him and we couldn’t just leave him passed out in the street. So, with the help of my companion we put our friend on my shoulders and I carried him back home. The next time we saw him he thanked us and this week we are hopefully going to go and teach him again (he is an investigator of ours and a good friend).
I know that this is the Lords True Church. The things I see are things that are unreal and unexplainable. We are blessed through our trials and although we are struggling to find investigators right now I know without a doubt that it always works out the way the Lord desires. As it states multiple times in the scriptures, the blessings come after the trial of your faith. I have found that sometimes the hardest things in the mission are the things that have helped build my character and have made me the missionary and person that I am today. I will never give up on an investigator and perhaps that is bit of a weakness that I have but I see it as a strength because I have been blessed to see the potential that each and every Peruvian has to become a faithful advocate and defender of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share the gospel with them each day. I love you all and hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Fawcett
My Peruvian Charango
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